Comments on: Canadian solar panels must be excluded from U.S. import tariffs, says international board https://www.solarpowerworldonline.com/2022/02/canadian-solar-panels-must-be-excluded-from-u-s-import-tariffs-says-international-board/ Covering the world of solar power technology, development and installation. Thu, 07 Jul 2022 17:58:11 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.2 By: Solarman https://www.solarpowerworldonline.com/2022/02/canadian-solar-panels-must-be-excluded-from-u-s-import-tariffs-says-international-board/#comment-125120 Thu, 17 Feb 2022 16:41:32 +0000 https://www.solarpowerworldonline.com/?p=97748#comment-125120 “Two Canadian solar panel manufacturers (also with U.S. assembly locations) that would benefit from this decision are Silfab Solar and Heliene.”

Again, we are getting into the argument of local supply chain and probably national security of the “lack” of such a supply chain. After this exploration of 201 tariffs since 2018 hasn’t really expanded the solar PV manufacturing in the U.S. and any “new” manufacturing facilities in the U.S. like Heliene are still depending on silicon from China and the foundries there, tariffs are just cutting off one’s nose to spite their collective faces. As mentioned in the article, the ‘number’ of panels manufactured is under the target mandate of the 201 tariffs as it has been invoked. I see actual tariff induced manufacturing limitations for product built in the U.S. under these conditions. The recent determination of bifacial solar PV panels being excluded from the tariffs leaves China again with the advantage. China has the silicon foundries, has the large solar PV manufacturing facilities already online and can still flood the market with cheap bifacial solar PV panels cheaper than low manufacturing production of mono solar PV panels that can be built in the U.S.. In the U.S. we are talking 200 to maybe 500MW of solar PV panel production a year. In China some of their plants are talking GW of panel production a year.

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