The US has notified the other 163 members of the WTO that it is considering putting emergency “safeguard” tariffs on imported solar cells, according to a WTO filing published on Monday.
The move raises the stakes in a global battle to dominate the solar power industry, which has grown explosively in the past five years.
As production has increased, prices have tumbled, favoring producers who can take advantage of economies of scale.
The US, China and India are vying to be the market leader and are looking out for any perceived breach of the international trade rules by their rivals.
In September last year, the WTO ruled that India was illegally discriminating against US solar exports, while India launched its own WTO complaint about solar subsidies in eight US states.
The US’ ability to attract renewable energy investment has been tarnished by the shift in energy policy under US President Donald Trump, putting China and India on top, a report by British accountancy firm Ernst & Young said earlier this month.
The US’ decision to consider safeguard tariffs follows a petition to the US International Trade Commission (ITC) by Suniva Inc, the filing said.
Under WTO rules, such temporary tariffs may be used to shield an industry from a sudden, unforeseen and damaging surge in imports. They can be challenged by other WTO members.
The ITC is to decide by Sept. 22 whether the US industry has suffered “serious injury” and if that is the case it would submit its report to Trump by Nov. 13, the filing said.
Suniva’s petition said the volume of imports rose by 51.6 percent from 2012 to last year, while the value of those imports grew by 62.8 percent from US$5.1 billion to US$8.3 billion.
“The petition alleges that increasing imports have taken market share from domestic producers and have led to bankruptcies, plant shutdowns, layoffs, and a severe deterioration of the financial performance of the domestic industry,” the US filing said.
Suniva itself filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on April 17.
While imports have risen, US producers have seen business shrivel, with 1,200 manufacturing jobs lost and a 27 percent wage decline in the four years to last year. US solar cell plants went from running at 81.7 percent of capacity in 2014 to 28.9 percent last year, the filing said.
“Data in the petition also indicates that [US producers’] domestic market share fell from 21.0 percent in 2012 to 11 percent last year, despite a US$4 billion growth of the US market over the same period,” it said.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday said its materials management head, Vanessa Lee (李文如), had tendered her resignation for personal reasons. The personnel adjustment takes effect tomorrow, TSMC said in a statement. The latest development came one month after Lee reportedly took leave from the middle of last month. Cliff Hou (侯永清), senior vice president and deputy cochief operating officer, is to concurrently take on the role of head of the materials management division, which has been under his supervision, TSMC said. Lee, who joined TSMC in 2022, was appointed senior director of materials management and
Nvidia Corp CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) on Thursday met with US President Donald Trump at the White House, days before a planned trip to China by the head of the world’s most valuable chipmaker, people familiar with the matter said. Details of what the two men discussed were not immediately available, and the people familiar with the meeting declined to elaborate on the agenda. Spokespeople for the White House had no immediate comment. Nvidia declined to comment. Nvidia’s CEO has been vocal about the need for US companies to access the world’s largest semiconductor market and is a frequent visitor to China.
Hypermarket chain Carrefour Taiwan and upscale supermarket chain Mia C’bon on Saturday announced the suspension of their partnership with Jkopay Co (街口支付), one of Taiwan’s largest digital payment providers, amid a lawsuit involving its parent company. Carrefour and Mia C’bon said they would notify customers once Jkopay services are reinstated. The two retailers joined an array of other firms in suspending their partnerships with Jkopay. On Friday night, popular beverage chain TP Tea (茶湯會) also suspended its use of the platform, urging customers to opt for alternative payment methods. Another drinks brand, Guiji (龜記), on Friday said that it is up to individual
READY TO BUY: Shortly after Nvidia announced the approval, Chinese firms scrambled to order the H20 GPUs, which the company must send to the US government for approval Nvidia Corp chief executive officer Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) late on Monday said the technology giant has won approval from US President Donald Trump’s administration to sell its advanced H20 graphics processing units (GPUs) used to develop artificial intelligence (AI) to China. The news came in a company blog post late on Monday and Huang also spoke about the coup on China’s state-run China Global Television Network in remarks shown on X. “The US government has assured Nvidia that licenses will be granted, and Nvidia hopes to start deliveries soon,” the post said. “Today, I’m announcing that the US government has approved for us
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