(Aug 7): US President Donald Trump ordered new tariffs as well as price floors on imported polysilicon used in semiconductors and solar panels, warning that US reliance on foreign supplies threatens national security.
Under Trump’s directive, imported polysilicon derivatives, including silicon wafers, photovoltaic cells and solar modules, will be subject to 15% tariffs, beginning Dec. 4. The president signed the proclamation on Thursday.
The measure also sets minimum import prices of US$21 per kilogramme for polysilicon; US$100 per kilogramme for polysilicon ingots and wafers; 22 cents per watt for solar cells and 38 cents per watt for solar modules.
The action is meant to encourage domestic production of polysilicon and goods made from it, potentially helping nurture a US solar supply chain that has struggled for more than a decade to take root in the US. The measures follow a series of US trade cases that have resulted in duties on solar equipment from China and some Southeast Asian nations. Foreign manufacturers have been found shifting production among countries to dodge tariffs.
The new import fees also threaten to raise the cost of solar modules, another headwind for renewable power developers already navigating the loss of federal subsidies and a Trump administration pivot in favor of rival fossil fuels.
Shares of companies with domestic solar manufacturing operations jumped in after-hours trading. First Solar Inc, the nation’s biggest solar maker, climbed as much as 8%. T1 Energy Inc climbed 6.3%.
While the US was once a leader producing polysilicon in the early to mid 2000s, Chinese companies rose to prominence and by the end of the last decade were the world’s dominant producer.
The order directs an incentive program meant to lure US production of polysilicon and its derivative products, with the Commerce secretary authorised to enter into company-specific deals to incentivize those investments.
Companies also will be able to win tariff relief in some cases tied to their investments in the US — so-called onshoring plans that will be vetted by the Commerce secretary, under Trump’s order. Firms with onshoring plans that win the administration’s approval will be able to import some necessary production equipment and inputs without paying the newly ordered tariffs.
The delayed tariff implementation is a blow to US manufacturers that had warned it will give renewable power developers time to surge cheap imports and build a stockpile of duty-free equipment. But Trump’s order says that the administration will police trade and act to restrict imports by companies found to be stockpiling polysilicon or polysilicon derivatives.
The move was heralded by manufacturing allies.
“For the first time, the United States is protecting the entire solar supply chain with a single action — and rewarding the manufacturers that build here — while taking a significant step to bolster the domestic semiconductor supply chain. This is how you reshore an industry,” said Jon Toomey, president of the Coalition for a Prosperous America.
US solar manufacturers, including First Solar, T1 Energy and Hanwha QCells, praised Trump’s action. T1’s chief executive officer, Dan Barcelo, called it a “decisive win for advanced American manufacturing and investment in domestic energy supply chains.”
Trump’s proclamation opens the door to direct US investment in some cell and wafer manufacturers. The US has adopted other approaches in a bid to spur that capacity previously, including tax credit bonuses for developers that installed American-made solar equipment, but those have been phased out.
At issue are solar-grade and electronics-grade polysilicon — refined silicon crystals that are used widely in technology that powers modern-day life. Electronics-grade polysilicon is essentially the beginning of the semiconductor manufacturing chain, an indispensable building block for the chips used in everything from smartphones and medical equipment to precision-guided weapons and flight-control systems.
Solar-grade polysilicon — which is less pure but more common — is the first ingredient in crystalline silicon solar panels that are used to generate power.
The tariffs are the result of a Commerce Department investigation, launched in July last year, that spanned both the raw commodity and its derivatives, exposing a wide supply chain to potential levies and import restrictions. It’s one of a number of probes under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, as Trump seeks to further domestic manufacturing capacity and diversify US supply chains.
The president is working to rebuild global tariffs after the Supreme Court ruled against his first volley imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.
Domestic polysilicon advocates have argued that solar-grade production in the US isn’t profitable at current prices without some trade support and encouraged the administration to focus remedies on the material coming from or linked to China, the world’s dominant supplier. They said the goal should be to set tariffs that are high enough to offset overcapacity and below-cost pricing by China.
Uploaded by Isabelle Francis
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