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RIYADH: The administration of US President Donald Trump has imposed preliminary tariffs of up to 146 percent on solar panels imported from India, Indonesia, and Laos, after concluding that these countries provided unfair support to their manufacturing sectors.
The move is expected to benefit US producers, but in turn, could raise costs for consumers, according to Bloomberg.
The US Department of Commerce said on Feb. 24 that the tariff rates reflect the level of support provided, at 126 percent on imports from India, between 86 percent and 143 percent on Indonesia, and 81 percent on Laos.
The US claims that this support allows foreign producers to sell their exports in the US market at prices below production costs, harming the competitiveness of domestic manufacturers.
While these tariffs are expected to favor domestic manufacturers, they will negatively affect US renewable energy project developers, who have long relied on low-cost foreign supplies, exacerbating uncertainty in a sector already influenced by fluctuating policies and regulatory decisions in Washington.
A different customs path for solar tariffs
These duties are separate from the broader global tariffs previously imposed by Trump, which the US Supreme Court overturned last week. Following the ruling, Trump introduced new tariffs of 10 percent, with a warning that they could rise to 15 percent.
Earlier this month, the president reached a bilateral trade agreement with India aimed at easing economic tensions between the two countries.
According to Bloomberg NEF data, India, Indonesia, and Laos accounted for 57 percent of US solar panel imports in the first half of 2025, with some project developers shifting to importing panels from these countries after Washington imposed high tariffs on four Southeast Asian countries that had once represented the largest share of imports.
Pressure on Indian manufacturers
Vikram Bagri, an analyst at Citi, wrote in a research note on Feb. 24 that the relatively high tariff levels will make the US market almost closed to solar panel manufacturers in India.
The US solar industry group, the Alliance for American Solar Manufacturing and Trade, had requested the Department of Commerce to open an investigation into the support, arguing that the step was necessary to protect the domestic industry.
Tim Brightbill, co-chair of the international trade practice at Wiley Rein and the alliance’s lead attorney, said: “The results announced today represent a pivotal step toward restoring fair competition in the US solar market.”
He added: “US manufacturers are investing billions of dollars to rebuild production capacity domestically and create well-paying jobs. These investments cannot succeed if unfairly traded imports continue to distort the market.”
The Department of Commerce is expected to issue a final decision on the investigation on July 6, while a parallel probe is underway to impose anti-dumping duties on solar cell imports from India, Indonesia, and Laos.
RIYADH: The Invest Saudi platform offers specialized opportunities with expected revenues exceeding SR30 billion ($8 billion), according to the National Center for Environmental Compliance.
In a statement, the center invited local and international investors to seize the listed opportunities and benefit from various incentives, ranging from administrative support to direct financing.
Saad Al-Zubaidi, executive director of business development, explained that this market size reflects the specialized nature of the environmental compliance sector as a supporting sector for all economic activities. 
Sectors such as industry, energy, mining, construction, services, and infrastructure rely on it to comply with environmental regulations and enhance operational efficiency.
Incentive and financing packages
The center, in integration with various government entities, is working on developing comprehensive incentive packages for investors in the field.
These packages include direct financing tools, soft loans, and guarantee programs, in addition to regulatory and procedural enablers aimed at accelerating the investment cycle and reducing operational risks.
The payback period for investments starts from 4 years and does not exceed 7 years at most, according to the center.
The current market size stands at SR14 billion, according to Al-Zubaidi, who expects it to double within 5 years.
The market diversifies across fields including the manufacturing of pollution control systems, the manufacturing of air and water quality monitoring devices, soil and groundwater rehabilitation, and building specialized technical capacities in the environmental field.
Trend toward localizing environmental technologies
Al-Zubaidi confirmed that the announced opportunities have had their preliminary studies completed and are available for investors to review their details and to complete technical and financial feasibility studies according to various business models.
The focus is not limited to maximizing economic return but extends to localizing environmental technologies, transferring knowledge, and building local value chains capable of meeting the growing demand across various sectors.

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