The shares of First Solar Inc. (NASDAQ:FSLR) jumped 7.18% to $122.45 during the pre-market session on Tuesday after the U.S. finalized plans to impose steep tariffs on most solar cells imported from Southeast Asia on Monday.
What Happened: Firms within the American Alliance for Solar Manufacturing Trade Committee have accused major Chinese solar panel manufacturers with factories in Malaysia, Cambodia, Thailand, and Vietnam of selling panels below production cost and benefiting from unfair subsidies, making American products uncompetitive, Reuters reported on Monday.
The case was initiated last year by Korea’s Hanwha Qcells, Arizona-based First Solar Inc., and several smaller producers.
The tariffs finalized on Monday vary significantly based on the company and country, with products from Cambodia facing duties exceeding 3,500% as a result of non-cooperation with the U.S. investigation.
Jinko Solar‘s Malaysian products were subject to some of the lowest combined anti-dumping and countervailing duties at 41.56%, while competing Trina Solar's Thai products were hit with steep tariffs of 375.19%.
To finalize the tariffs, the International Trade Commission must vote in June to determine if the industry was significantly harmed by the unfairly priced and subsidized imports.
Why It Matters: China, which dominates 90% of the solar supply chain, has established factories across Southeast Asia to bypass U.S. tariffs. The new duties mark another blow as the U.S. ramps up its crackdown on Chinese imports.
In November, the U.S. Department of Commerce announced tariffs between 21% and 271% for Chinese solar panels sold through subsidiaries in Cambodia, Vietnam, Thailand and Malaysia. During the 2024 election, President Donald Trump pledged to impose tariffs on specific Chinese imports, including solar panels.
Against this backdrop, Piper Sandler analyst Kashy Harrison stated in January that First Solar could gain significantly from this development.
However, critics, including the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA), argue that the proposed tariffs could hurt U.S. solar manufacturers by increasing the cost of imported cells used in panel assembly at American factories which have been expanding since the clean energy manufacturing subsidy was introduced in 2022.
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