Commodities and Futures News

US solar projects could boom amid deadline to use up tax-exempt panel glut

2024.06.06 06:54

By Nichola Groom

(Reuters) – A two-year U.S. tariff holiday on solar panels from Southeast Asia expires on Thursday, starting the clock ticking for American project developers to use the huge amount of equipment they stockpiled duty-free over that period by the end of this year.

The dynamic could result in a mini-boom in already red-hot U.S. solar installations, while also annoying the nascent domestic manufacturing industry which is keen to see developers make the switch to American-made gear.

U.S. solar developers accumulated around 35 gigawatts (GW) of imported panels in U.S. warehouses since President Joe Biden lifted the duties on Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam in 2022 to help speed domestic projects to fight climate change, according to energy advisory firm Clean Energy Associates.

That is nearly as much solar capacity as the U.S. will install during all of 2024, according to research firm Wood Mackenzie.

The vast majority of the inventory is believed to have come from the targeted countries, and once the tariffs snap back into place on June 6, companies will have just 180 days to use that Southeast Asian stock or they will need to pay up.

Companies have already dramatically increased project building, with utility-scale installations soaring 135% to 9.8 GW in the first quarter, according to Wood Mackenzie.

“The temporary tariff moratorium did its job to ensure a sufficient supply of solar modules to support the need for increased clean energy deployment,” said Stacy Ettinger, senior vice president of supply chain and trade for the Solar Energy Industries Association, a trade group.

An attorney for U.S. solar manufacturers who are seeking new tariffs on Southeast Asian imports said it was unrealistic to expect all the inventory to be used in the next six months.

“The tariff moratorium led to this surge and glut of inventories that we’re seeing today, that has also contributed to the 50% price collapse in the market that is harming the U.S. industry,” Tim Brightbill, a trade attorney with Wiley Rein, said, referring to domestic manufacturers of panels.

The glut of panels marks an about-face for the U.S. industry, which until a year ago was struggling with tight supplies due to the coronavirus pandemic and concerns about solar equipment linked to forced labor, among other constraints.

Solar imports surged since the beginning of 2023 and were up nearly 14% in the first quarter this year – with 88% of that from the targeted countries, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence. The tariffs are meant to target imports by companies found to be dodging U.S. duties on Chinese goods by finishing panels in the four Southeast Asian nations.

The White House said last month that it would vigorously enforce the 180-day deadline to prevent stockpiling.

SEIA did not address the deadline in its statement to Reuters.

© Reuters. A drone view shows solar panels as they stand on Dave Duttlinger's farmland that he leased to Dunns Bridge Solar LLC in Wheatfield, Indiana, U.S., April 5, 2024.  REUTERS/Jim Vondruska

SEIA had lobbied against the circumvention tariffs, saying they would drive up project costs and threaten the nation’s ability to address climate change.

It did not lobby for an extension of the tariff holiday.



Source link

Related Articles

Back to top button
bitcoin
Bitcoin (BTC) $ 96,179.77 2.52%
ethereum
Ethereum (ETH) $ 3,301.76 4.90%
tether
Tether (USDT) $ 1.00 0.19%
solana
Solana (SOL) $ 245.11 5.94%
bnb
BNB (BNB) $ 645.74 3.89%
xrp
XRP (XRP) $ 1.32 15.63%
dogecoin
Dogecoin (DOGE) $ 0.403687 11.52%
usd-coin
USDC (USDC) $ 0.999032 0.12%
cardano
Cardano (ADA) $ 0.954242 14.15%
staked-ether
Lido Staked Ether (STETH) $ 3,299.74 4.97%
tron
TRON (TRX) $ 0.202242 7.53%
avalanche-2
Avalanche (AVAX) $ 38.95 10.03%
the-open-network
Toncoin (TON) $ 5.90 5.97%
shiba-inu
Shiba Inu (SHIB) $ 0.000025 9.70%
wrapped-steth
Wrapped stETH (WSTETH) $ 3,916.37 4.63%
stellar
Stellar (XLM) $ 0.45668 11.21%
wrapped-bitcoin
Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC) $ 96,034.73 2.57%
polkadot
Polkadot (DOT) $ 8.33 5.69%
chainlink
Chainlink (LINK) $ 16.46 7.39%
bitcoin-cash
Bitcoin Cash (BCH) $ 488.69 6.94%
weth
WETH (WETH) $ 3,299.79 4.88%
sui
Sui (SUI) $ 3.28 8.72%
pepe
Pepe (PEPE) $ 0.000019 10.80%
near
NEAR Protocol (NEAR) $ 6.30 2.61%
leo-token
LEO Token (LEO) $ 8.34 3.68%
litecoin
Litecoin (LTC) $ 92.72 10.08%
aptos
Aptos (APT) $ 11.73 10.24%
uniswap
Uniswap (UNI) $ 10.21 9.14%
wrapped-eeth
Wrapped eETH (WEETH) $ 3,479.92 4.78%
hedera-hashgraph
Hedera (HBAR) $ 0.137174 14.21%
usds
USDS (USDS) $ 0.999792 0.02%
internet-computer
Internet Computer (ICP) $ 10.52 11.00%
crypto-com-chain
Cronos (CRO) $ 0.180047 8.69%
polygon-ecosystem-token
POL (ex-MATIC) (POL) $ 0.529752 11.58%
ethereum-classic
Ethereum Classic (ETC) $ 27.27 11.04%
ethena-usde
Ethena USDe (USDE) $ 1.00 0.15%
render-token
Render (RENDER) $ 7.33 9.58%
fetch-ai
Artificial Superintelligence Alliance (FET) $ 1.43 0.05%
kaspa
Kaspa (KAS) $ 0.146895 8.92%
bittensor
Bittensor (TAO) $ 492.94 8.07%
whitebit
WhiteBIT Coin (WBT) $ 24.33 1.86%
dai
Dai (DAI) $ 0.999057 0.12%
arbitrum
Arbitrum (ARB) $ 0.804235 7.76%
mantra-dao
MANTRA (OM) $ 3.65 2.55%
bonk
Bonk (BONK) $ 0.000044 13.17%
celestia
Celestia (TIA) $ 7.65 15.66%
vechain
VeChain (VET) $ 0.039401 11.98%
filecoin
Filecoin (FIL) $ 5.27 2.79%
cosmos
Cosmos Hub (ATOM) $ 8.13 5.23%
okb
OKB (OKB) $ 52.07 0.06%