Toyo Co. said US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has released shipments of solar cells made at its factory in Ethiopia after reviewing supply chain documentation that included polysilicon and wafer sourcing.
The Japanese manufacturer did not say how many shipments were released, when, or under which authority they had been held. In a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, Toyo said CBP issued detention notices on May 27 and May 28 for two cell shipments totaling about 0.094 MW, valued at $13,770, which CBP indicated were suspected of being associated with forced labor. Toyo has not said whether those are the shipments now released.
Toyo said it is pursuing certification under CBP’s Customs Trade Partnership Against Terrorism program and has expanded the import compliance program that supports its US manufacturing operations in Humble, Texas. Chief Executive Officer Takahiko Onozuka said customers need confidence in where their solar products come from and that the company intends to provide it across its full supply chain.
The US Department of Commerce opened a country-wide circumvention inquiry on July 17 into solar cells and modules completed in Ethiopia using Chinese components. It followed a request filed in May by eight US manufacturers naming Toyo and Origin Solar Manufacturing. A preliminary determination is due within 150 days of the inquiry’s start, putting it in mid-December unless extended. Toyo has denied the allegations, saying its Ethiopian cells use polysilicon from the United States and Malaysia.
Toyo operates 4 GW of tunnel oxide passivated contact (TOPCon) cell capacity in Hawassa, Ethiopia, and completed an expansion of its Humble module plant to 2 GW in October. It plans a 1.5 GW heterojunction cell line at the Texas site, with pilot production targeted for the first quarter of 2028.
CBP has previously released detained solar imports after supply chain reviews, including cells bound for Qcells’ Georgia factories in 2025. Separately, Commerce in September finalized antidumping and countervailing duties on solar cells and modules from India, Indonesia and Laos, after manufacturers there became major suppliers to the US market following duties on Southeast Asian imports.
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