Following is a statement from John Smirnow, SEIA’s vice president of market strategy, in response to Auxin Solar’s complaints about the market volatility their tariff petition has created:
“The lone company seeking these tariffs, Auxin Solar, is now complaining about a surge in solar cell imports, a product not even manufactured in the United States. This is a blatant attempt by Auxin to unfairly gain a competitive advantage, to the great detriment of other domestic module manufacturers and the American solar industry at large. Auxin’s attempted abuse of U.S. trade laws is shocking, and their petition must be rejected.
“If the case is initiated you will see imports from Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia slow to a trickle, killing solar deployment and our progress on climate change. The reason these imports will stop is because Commerce’s initiation of the case alone could immediately start the clock on tariffs between 50% and 250%. This creates massive uncertainty about costs going forward. Since we get 80% of our imports from these countries, the initiation of the case alone will stifle deployment and lead directly to an increase in U.S. carbon emissions.”
