(Bloomberg) — The Trump administration has imposed preliminary tariffs of 126% on solar energy imports from India after determining that the country unfairly subsidizes manufacturing.
The US Department of Commerce also set initial duties ranging from 86% to 143% for Indonesia and 81% for Laos. The rates are based on the determination of foreign subsidies, which the US says have allowed exporters from those countries to undercut the products of domestic solar manufacturers.
The tariffs, while aimed at benefiting domestic producers, raise uncertainty in an industry not favored by US President Donald Trump and threaten to raise costs for both producers and consumers.
Those charges would be different from Trump’s sweeping global tariffs, which were struck down by the US Supreme Court last week. In response, Trump issued new 10% tariffs that threaten to rise to 15%. The president also struck a bilateral trade deal with India earlier this month that sought to reduce economic tensions between the countries.
India, Indonesia and Laos accounted for 57% of US solar module imports in the first half of 2025, according to BloombergNEF.
Faced with stiff U.S. tariffs, Chinese solar equipment manufacturers are increasingly shifting production to Southeast Asia to maintain access to the U.S. market. Initial efforts focused on Cambodia, Vietnam, Malaysia and Thailand until those countries were also hit by steep US tariffs that encouraged manufacturers to relocate capacity elsewhere in Asia.
U.S. solar manufacturers filed trade petitions in July alleging that Chinese companies are flooding the U.S. market with unfairly cheap goods made in India, Indonesia and Laos. The complaints have since prompted the U.S. International Trade Commission to open an investigation into antidumping and countervailing duty requests.
Solar imports from India were valued at $792.6 million in 2024, more than nine times the 2022 figure, according to the Commerce Department.
Relatively high tariffs will make the U.S. market largely inaccessible to Indian solar panel makers, a Citigroup Inc. analyst said. Vikram Bagri in a note on Tuesday.
A U.S. solar group, the Alliance for American Solar Manufacturing and Trade, has asked Commerce to investigate the subsidies, saying the probe is needed to protect U.S. manufacturing.
“Today’s finding is an important step toward restoring fair competition in the U.S. solar market,” said Tim Brightbill, co-chair of Wiley Rein’s International Trade Practice and general counsel for the Alliance. “American manufacturers are investing billions of dollars to restore domestic capacity and create good-paying jobs. These investments cannot succeed if unfairly traded imports can distort the market.”
A final decision on the investigation is due on July 6. The Department of Commerce is conducting a concurrent investigation into antidumping duties on solar cells imported from India, Indonesia and Laos.
— With help from Ocean Hou.
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