On Thursday, U.S. customs officials announced that they were investigating whether India’s company, Waaree Energy, was using Chinese-made cells and panels, labeling them as Indian, despite the U.S. tariff.
US Customs and Border Protection revealed the investigation in a memo to lawyers for Waaree and the American Alliance for Solar Manufacturing Trade Committee. This committee is comprised of US solar manufacturers who requested that the agency initiate the investigations in letters they sent earlier this year.
In the memo, the agency mentions that there was sufficient suspicion that Waaree hadn’t labelled some of its imported products as related to antidumping and countervailing duties, which the US has imposed for years on solar cells and panels made in China and other Asian nations.
US imports of solar panels from India have increased over the last two years, following the Commerce Department’s imposition of tariffs on goods from four Southeast Asian nations that have comprised the majority of the nation’s panel supplies. The US has imposed tariffs on Chinese-made panels for more than a decade.
The American Alliance for Solar Manufacturing Trade Committee, which includes solar companies such as Qcells, a division of Korea’s Hanwha Corp, approved the probe.
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Tim Brightbill, the group’s attorney, said in a statement, “Indian solar products have been among the lowest prices in the market, and now we know why that’s possible: by using Chinese cells and not paying the duties that apply to them.”.
