The U.S. Department of Commerce has announced preliminary affirmative determinations in its anti-dumping (AD) duty investigations into solar imports from India, Indonesia, and Laos.
According to a fact sheet released by Commerce, the agency determined preliminary dumping margins of 123.04% for India, 35.17% for Indonesia, and 22.46% for Laos.
These investigations were initiated last August following a petition by the Alliance for American Solar Manufacturing and Trade, a coalition of domestic manufacturers including First Solar, Hanwha Qcells, and Mission Solar. The group argued that a surge of low-priced imports from these nations was undercutting the U.S. manufacturing sector at a critical period of domestic expansion.
These new AD duties are in addition to the preliminary countervailing duties (CVD) announced by the Commerce Department in February 2026, which targeted government subsidies. When combined, the total preliminary duty exposure for many exporters from these countries has risen sharply. For India, total duties now reach approximately 234% for most manufacturers. In Indonesia, combined rates range between 121% and 178%, while in Laos, the total preliminary rate stands at roughly 103%.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) will now require importers to post cash deposits based on these preliminary rates. The targeted nations represent a massive portion of the U.S. supply chain; according to government data, India, Indonesia, and Laos accounted for $4.5 billion in solar imports in 2025—roughly two-thirds of the total volume entering the country.
While these rates take effect immediately as cash deposit requirements, they remain preliminary until final determinations are issued later this year. Final decisions for India and Indonesia are scheduled for July 13, 2026, while Laos is expected to receive a final determination on or around September 9, 2026.
The final step in the process rests with the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC), which must determine if these imports have caused material injury to the domestic industry. The ITC’s final injury determination is currently scheduled for October 19, 2026. If the ITC issues a negative determination, the investigations will be terminated, and all collected deposits will be refunded. If affirmative, final duty orders will be issued on October 26, 2026.
The U.S. government ha also announced preliminary affirmative determinations in these countervailing duty (CVD) investigations in late February.
This content is protected by copyright and may not be reused. If you want to cooperate with us and would like to reuse some of our content, please contact: editors@pv-magazine.com.
By submitting this form you agree to pv magazine using your data for the purposes of publishing your comment.
Your personal data will only be disclosed or otherwise transmitted to third parties for the purposes of spam filtering or if this is necessary for technical maintenance of the website. Any other transfer to third parties will not take place unless this is justified on the basis of applicable data protection regulations or if pv magazine is legally obliged to do so.
You may revoke this consent at any time with effect for the future, in which case your personal data will be deleted immediately. Otherwise, your data will be deleted if pv magazine has processed your request or the purpose of data storage is fulfilled.
Further information on data privacy can be found in our Data Protection Policy.