The end of the Trump-era Sec. The 201 tariffs on imported solar panels were chaotic for everyone. Originally adopted in 2018, 30% tariffs were placed on crystalline silicon cells and modules imported into the United States. Imported bifacial panels were excluded from tariffs in June 2019 due to the lack of significant domestic manufacturing capacity of the specialty product. Then the US Trade Representative lifted their exclusion in October 2019. The US Court of International Trade (CIT) put bifacial panels back on the exemption list in December 2019.
The US Trade Representative returned in April 2020 and taxed bifacial modules again. A month later, CIT said the panels could enter duty-free. Then President Trump stepped in and removed the bifacial exemption again in October 2020 through an executive order. Finally(ish), CIT reinstated the bifacial exemption in November 2021 after determining the executive order was illegal. In February 2022, President Biden extended Section 201 tariffs for an additional four years and kept bifacial panels exempt. Bifacial solar panels imported into the United States are still unpriced today.
A respectable timeline of prices on bifacial solar panels. Credit: Solar Power World
Four global solar panel makers – Astronergy, Qcells, JA Solar and Trina Solar – filed four separate cases with the US CIT this month seeking reimbursement of “millions of dollars” in tariffs they paid on the modules bifacials during this confusing time when the specialty panels lost their exemption under President Trump’s executive order.
Bifacial solar panels. Credit: Billy Ludt/Solar Power World
The companies are asking for the refunds because they were “required to pay these safeguard fees which were later found to be illegal”.
“The imposition of safeguard duties is an extraordinary act. Congress created a legislative scheme intended to balance the interests of all parties involved, and the procedures Congress created for imposing and varying safeguards had to be followed,” JA Solar said in his filing. “The president cannot ignore them or rewrite them himself in order to achieve the desired political results.”
Trina Solar requests that U.S. Customs and Border Protection “promptly refund, with interest, all increased safeguard duties collected” from Trina on bifacial modules between October 2020 and November 2021, and the increased tariff amount on all solar panels which Trump included in his executive order. Astronergy presented a similar language. Qcells and JA Solar did not specifically mention the dates, but asked that the tariffs paid be refunded with interest.
Companies had two years from the first publication of illegal tariffs to sue and file suit within the respective time limits. solar energy world will continue to track this issue.