Oct 1 (Reuters) - The U.S. Commerce Department on

Tuesday announced anti-subsidy countervailing duties on solar

cells imported by companies from Vietnam, Cambodia, Malaysia and

Thailand.

According to a preliminary decision posted on Commerce's web

site, the agency calculated tariff rates of between 0.14% and

3293.61%, depending on the company, on solar cells from the four

Southeast Asian nations. A final decision will be made next

year.

The announcement is the first of two preliminary decisions

Commerce will make this year in a trade case brought by Korea's

Hanwha Qcells, Arizona-based First Solar ( FSLR )

and several smaller companies seeking to protect billions of

dollars in investments in U.S. solar manufacturing.