Washington, D.C. - September 14, 2026 - The Department of Commerce has decided on antidumping and countervailing duties on crystalline silicon photovoltaic cells and modules imported from India, Indonesia, and Laos. This is a major step in the enforcement of American trade involving solar supply chains in Asia.
The determinations announced on September 11 conclude that manufacturers from all three countries dumped solar products in the U.S. market below the fair value and benefited from the government subsidies resulting in causing significant injuries to the domestic solar manufacturing sector.
Final Duty Rates
The Department of Commerce established the following final rates:
India: Anti-dumping margin of 123.04% and countervailing duty rate of 126.09%, yielding a combined margin of 234%.
Indonesia: Anti-dumping margin of 94.36%, with countervailing duty rates ranging from 73.2% to 173.7% depending on the specific manufacturer.
Laos: Anti-dumping margin of 65.43%, with countervailing duty rates between 82.03% and 153.67%.
Notably, one Indonesian producer, PT Blue Sky Solar Indonesia, received a countervailing duty rate of 173.70%, the highest individual rate in the final determination.
Investigation Background
The investigation called Solar IV was initiated in August 2025 following a complaint from the Alliance for American Solar Manufacturing and Trade (AASMT). The AASMT is a consortium of companies comprised of First Solar, Hanwha Qcells USA, and Mission Solar Energy among others. It has been alleged by the complainants that China-based manufacturers have shifted their production activities to countries such as India, Indonesia, and Laos in order to avoid US tariffs on their products.
The Commerce Department published its preliminary findings on countervailing duties in February 2026, and did the same regarding anti-dumping in April 2026, before announcing the final ones this month.
"The final findings form an important part of implementation of our trade laws and ensuring fair market competition for US solar producers and the workers employed by them," said Tim Brightbill, acting counsel for the AASMT and co-chair of the international commerce practice of Wiley. "We will continue tracking data on imports and hold the wrongdoers responsible for their actions no matter where they go."
Market Impact and Supply Chain Shifts
The final decisions on the duties come at a moment when the U.S. solar industry is already beginning to make necessary adjustments in its procurement practices. According to the analysis conducted by experts in the industry, the procurement of cells for assembly of modules in the U.S. has almost completely moved away from the three targeted countries.
Laos is a supplier that stands out from the rest, as the export of solar energy from this country has gone from almost zero in 2022 to about 1.91 gigawatts in 2024. Thus, the U.S. government is closely observing whether the country manages to evade tariffs.
Hence, the proposed new tariffs will be added on top of those already implemented, which will put even more pressure on exporters from these countries operating in the U.S. market.
Next Steps
This means, however, that the final determination that the Commerce Department made is not the end of it. The U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) is expected to vote on the imports' role in harming the domestic market on October, 14, 2026. If the commission comes to a positive conclusion, then the Commerce Department may introduce its anti-dumping and countervailing regulations by November, 2, 2026.
The Solar IV case adds yet another chapter to a years-long dispute on solar imports. The first time the US government made anti-dumping and anti-subsidy duties on the Chinese solar industry was in 2012. As a consequence, many manufacturers moved their production facilities to Asian countries. Later on, the US imposed similar duties on Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam and now looks to other countries like India, Indonesia, and Laos.
For the solar market, the establishment of these duties indicates that the days of circumventing tariffs by moving production facilities around may be coming to an end.
