Climate Politics
US Finds Chinese Solar Manufacturers Are Evading Decade-Old Tariffs
- Commerce Department releases initial findings of investigation
- Trade probe threatens to worsen tensions between US and China
An employee inspects photovoltaic modules at a solar panel factory in Xi'an, Shaanxi Province, China.
Photographer: Qilai Shen/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Chinese solar manufacturers are circumventing decade-old tariffs by assembling equipment in Southeast Asia before shipping it to the US, according to initial findings by the US Commerce Department.
The probe found that some solar cells and modules exported from Cambodia, Thailand, Malaysia and Vietnam used wafers produced in China in violation of US tariffs, the agency said Friday in a filing.