April 24 (Reuters) - Some of the world's largest solar

equipment makers on Wednesday asked President Joe Biden's

administration to impose tariffs on panels and cells from four

Asian countries to protect billions of dollars in investments in

U.S. manufacturing.

Seven companies - Korea's Hanwha Qcells,

Switzerland's Meyer Burger, Norway's REC Silicon ( RNWEF )

and U.S. companies First Solar Inc ( FSLR ), Convalt

Energy, Mission Solar and Swift Solar - are behind the petitions

filed with the U.S. Department of Commerce and the International

Trade Commission, they said in a statement.

The American Alliance for Solar Manufacturing Trade

Committee is accusing Chinese companies with factories in

Malaysia, Cambodia, Vietnam and Thailand of flooding the U.S.

market with panels priced below their cost of production. That

has caused prices to collapse by more than 50%, threatening

their U.S.-made products, they said.

If the case is successful, companies that import panels to

install on rooftops or build large-scale solar power plants

could face higher prices within months.

The Biden administration has raised the alarm in recent

weeks over China's massive investment in factory capacity for

clean energy goods, and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has said

the U.S. is evaluating trade remedies.

Biden's landmark climate change law, the Inflation Reduction

Act, includes incentives for companies that produce clean energy

equipment in the United States.

Since its passage in 2022, solar companies have announced

more than 40 factories representing nearly $13 billion in

investment, according to projects tracked by the clean energy

business advocacy group E2.

But in recent months many of those companies have voiced

concerns about stepped-up competition from China that is already

hammering factories in Europe.

The petitioning companies are asking the U.S. Commerce

Department to impose anti-dumping and countervailing duties that

would offset the impact of foreign subsidies and ensure the

products are priced at fair market value.

The trade case is expected to last about a year, though

tariffs could be levied as soon as Commerce makes a preliminary

ruling in about four months for countervailing duties and six

months for anti-dumping duties.

"There is no question, despite the passage of the Inflation

Reduction Act, the U.S. solar manufacturing industry is injured

and remains in a very precarious position," Tim Brightbill, the

group's attorney, said on a call with reporters.

The U.S. has had tariffs in place on Chinese-made solar

equipment for a decade, and in 2018 then-President Donald Trump

imposed additional duties on overseas-made panels.

More recently, the U.S. last year finalized import duties on

some solar panel makers who finished their products in the same

four Southeast Asian countries targeted in the new trade case to

avoid the tariffs on Chinese goods.

Biden, however, in 2022 imposed a two-year waiver on those

tariffs due to pressure from project developers concerned about

a disruption in supplies. That waiver will expire in June, and

the White House has said it will not be extended.

Biden's administration is also expected to reverse an

exemption for imports of two-sided panels.

"Unfortunately, those actions are not enough to address the

more than 50% price drop that we've seen and the rampant dumping

and subsidies involving these four countries," Brightbill said.

Trade remedies on solar have been a delicate balancing act

for Biden as he seeks to revitalize U.S. manufacturing and

create jobs while also encouraging the deployment of clean

energy to combat climate change.

Solar project developers have long opposed tariffs because

they rely on cheap imports to keep their costs low.

Four clean energy trade groups, whose members include

developers and installers, said they opposed the new petition.

"Today's filing creates market uncertainty in the U.S. solar

industry and poses a potential threat to the build-out of a

domestic solar supply chain," the groups said in a statement.

They are the Solar Energy Industries Association, American

Clean Power Association, Advanced Energy United and American

Council on Renewable Energy.