U.S. lawmakers seek tighter solar import enforcement over duty and tax credit claims

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US solar import enforcement

Highlights

Bipartisan lawmakers sent a letter urging Customs and Border Protection and the IRS to crack down on blue wafer imports allegedly evading duties and claiming improper manufacturing tax credits.
Alleged duty evasion and tax fraud involving blue wafers is reportedly harming U.S. energy manufacturers and undermining incentives meant for domestic solar production.
Chinese companies supply about 80% of global solar products, intensifying U.S. trade enforcement to protect investments by First Solar, Qcells, and other domestic manufacturers.

Lawmakers press agencies on blue wafer imports

As first reported by Reuters, a letter signed on Thursday by Republican Representatives Mike Bost and Pat Harrigan and Democratic Representatives Ro Khanna and Marcy Kaptur asks Customs and Border Protection and the Internal Revenue Service to act against importers of so-called blue wafers.

The lawmakers describe blue wafers as thin slices of ultra-pure silicon that have already undergone key processing steps allowing them to generate electricity. They say some companies import these products to avoid U.S. duties on solar cells, then complete final processing in the United States and claim federal manufacturing tax credits intended to support domestic production.

The letter says the alleged duty evasion and tax fraud is harming U.S. energy manufacturers and placing them at a competitive disadvantage. The dispute forms part of a broader U.S. effort to curb practices domestic solar panel makers say are designed to sidestep tariffs.

Trade tensions shape solar manufacturing competition

The United States has sought to limit imports of low-cost solar cells produced by Chinese companies through tariffs and tax policies aimed at supporting domestic producers. Solar cells made in China and eight other Asian countries are subject to anti-dumping and countervailing duties.

Chinese companies account for about 80% of global solar supply, and many have shifted manufacturing to other countries to serve the U.S. market. That backdrop keeps trade enforcement central to the economics of U.S. solar manufacturing investment.

The Solar Energy Manufacturers for America Coalition, whose members include First Solar and Hanwha's Qcells, praises the lawmakers' letter. Rob Gardner, the coalition's vice president of congressional and regulatory affairs, says members have invested billions of dollars and created thousands of U.S. manufacturing jobs to build a domestic solar cell industry.

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