17.09.2026 Regulation #USA #Import #Duties

US finds dumping, subsidies in solar cells from India, Indonesia, Laos

On September 11, 2026, the US Department of Commerce (Commerce) issued final affirmative determinations in the antidumping (AD) and countervailing duty (CVD) investigations of crystalline silicon photovoltaic cells, whether or not assembled into modules, from India, Indonesia and Laos, finding sales at less than fair value and countervailable subsidization in all three countries (trade.gov). The full notices were published in the Federal Register on September 16 (govinfo, India AD, govinfo, India CVD). Combining both types of duties, pv magazine USA calculates that overall rates reach 234% for India, 178% for Indonesia and 103% for Laos (pv-magazine-usa). These are not yet duties in force: Commerce will issue orders only if the US International Trade Commission (ITC) reaches an affirmative injury determination.

Rates by country and company

The merchandise falls under heading 8541; the India notice cites HTSUS statistical subheadings 8541.42.0010 and 8541.43.0010 (govinfo, India AD).

Retroactive deposits for some suppliers

Commerce found "critical circumstances" for several respondents, triggering suspension of liquidation retroactive 90 days before the preliminary determination was published. In the India AD case, critical circumstances apply to Mundra Solar PV, Mundra Solar Energy, Kowa and Premier Energies Photovoltaic, with suspension effective from January 28, 2026, and from April 28, 2026 for everyone else (govinfo, India AD). In the India CVD case, critical circumstances were found only for the two Mundra companies — suspension of liquidation runs from November 28, 2025 for them and from February 26, 2026 for all other producers (govinfo, India CVD).

For Indonesia, the AD determination found critical circumstances for Blue Sky, REC Solar and all other producers alike (govinfo, Indonesia AD), while the CVD determination applied them only to Blue Sky and "all others," excluding REC Solar (govinfo, Indonesia CVD). Laos shows the mirror pattern: critical circumstances in the AD case apply to the separate-rate companies and the Laos-wide entity (a single rate for exporters without an individual margin), but not to Solarspace (govinfo, Laos AD); in the CVD case they apply to VSUN and all others, but not to Solarspace (govinfo, Laos CVD).

ITC's injury vote set for October 14

The petition was filed in July 2025 by the Alliance for American Solar Manufacturing and Trade; the alliance argued that producers had shifted assembly out of Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam — the "Solar III" case countries — into India, Indonesia and Laos to avoid existing duties (solarpowerworldonline). Its members include Hanwha Q CELLS USA, First Solar and Mission Solar Energy (trade.gov). After the earlier Solar III proceedings, shipments from those four countries fell from $12.2 billion in 2023 to $1.3 billion in 2025 (pv-magazine-usa). Opponents at ITC hearings included BYD, Canadian Solar, JA Solar, Runergy, Trina, Talesun, Waaree, the SEIA trade association, and India's Mundra (Adani) (solarpowerworldonline).

The ITC's final injury vote is scheduled for October 14, 2026; if affirmative, Commerce would issue the duty orders on November 2, 2026 (pv-magazine-usa). The new duties would stack on top of existing executive tariffs (pv-magazine-usa). A negative ITC vote would mean no duty orders and a refund of cash deposits collected so far, so until October 14 the duty status remains conditional. In the antidumping cases, suspension of liquidation and cash deposit collection at the rates above continue without interruption, as Commerce extended provisional measures to six months (govinfo, India AD); in the countervailing-duty cases, deposit collection has been suspended since June 26, 2026 and will resume only after an ITC affirmative determination and issuance of the CVD order (govinfo, India CVD).

Primary sources

Mentioned codes

8541

This material is for information only and does not constitute legal advice or customs consulting. Verify changes against the primary sources before acting.