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Malaysia, Cambodia, Vietnam, Thailand imports at issue

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Most solar panels installed in the US are made overseas

(Updates with Commerce decision)

Nov 29 (Reuters) - U.S. trade officials on Friday

announced a new round of tariffs on solar panel imports from

four Southeast Asian nations after American manufacturers

complained that companies there are flooding the market with

unfairly cheap goods.

It is the second of two preliminary decisions that President Joe

Biden's Commerce Department is making this year in a trade case

brought by Korea's Hanwha Qcells, Arizona-based

First Solar Inc ( FSLR ) and several smaller producers seeking

to protect billions of dollars in investments in U.S. solar

manufacturing.

This is the latest chapter in a more than decade-long trade war

with Chinese companies over their solar dominance. Chinese

manufacturers have responded to U.S. solar tariffs by moving

their massive operations to nations where they will not face

duties - including Southeast Asia.

The group, the American Alliance for Solar Manufacturing

Trade Committee, accused big Chinese solar panel makers with

factories in Malaysia, Cambodia, Vietnam and Thailand of causing

global prices to collapse by dumping products into the market.

The Hanwha-led group has sought antidumping duty rates of

between 70.35% and 271.45%, depending on the country, to offset

the unfair pricing. It also has sought tariffs to combat unfair

subsidies in those nations, and the Commerce Department imposed

preliminary antisubsidy duties last month.

On Friday, the department issued a range of preliminary

rates for panels from the four countries. Its final

determinations are set for April 18, 2025, with the ITC set to

finalize its determinations the following June 2 and final

orders expected June 9.

Most solar panels installed in the United States are made

overseas, and some 80% of imports come from the four nations

targeted in the Commerce Department probe.

Tariffs would increase prices for companies that import

panels to install on rooftops or build solar power plants, but

the United States over more than a decade has shown a

willingness to impose duties on the sector in a bid to bolster

the small U.S. clean energy manufacturing industry.

The Biden administration this year raised the alarm over China's

massive investment in factory capacity for clean energy goods.

Biden's landmark climate change law, the Inflation Reduction

Act, includes incentives for companies that produce clean energy

equipment in the United States - a subsidy that has prompted a

flurry of plans for new solar factories.

President-elect Donald Trump has called the Inflation Reduction

Act too expensive, but also has said he plans to slap hefty

tariffs on a range of sectors to protect American workers.

Dumping occurs when a company sells a product in the United

States at a price below its cost of production or lower than

what it charges in its home country.