Workers inspecting solar panels on assembly lines at an Adani Group factory in the port city of Mundra, Gujarat. | Photo credit: SHAMMI MEHRA
The Trump administration has imposed tariffs of 126% on solar cell imports from India after a “preliminary” finding that subsidized exports by Indian companies hurt the competitiveness of US solar companies and violate World Trade Organization agreements on subsidies.
These tariffs were collectively imposed on February 24 on India, Indonesia and Laos following an investigation that began on August 7, 2025 by the US Department of Commerce following a July 7, 2025 complaint by the Alliance for American Solar Manufacturing and Trade (AASMT), a coalition of leading solar manufacturers.
Indian companies under the US Commerce Department’s radar included Mundra Solar Energy Pvt. Ltd. and Mundra Solar PV Ltd. – both are part of Adani Group- Premier Energies Photovoltaic Private Limited (Premier) and Waaree Energies Ltd. and Waaree Solar Americas.
Apart from India, the department has set initial rates ranging from 86% to 143% for Indonesia and 81% for Laos.
This latest US tax comes after New Delhi and Washington agreed on a framework for an India-US trade deal to reduce tariffs on Indian exports to 18% from the previous 50%. Then the US Supreme Court overturned Trump’s tariffs, calling them unconstitutional. President Trump then came up with a new 10% basic tariff on several imports.
On February 24, according to a notice on the website of the US Department of Commerce, Adani was specifically targeted with a tariff rate of 125.87%, although these rates now apply to all Indian exporters.
The Hindu had not received comments from these companies at the time of going to press. However, with the United States being the largest export destination for solar components, Indian exports could likely be “affected”. The implications of the order were still being studied, a spokesperson of Solex Energy Limited, a Surat-based solar equipment manufacturer, told The Hindu. “There will be an impact because the US is a major export destination. How much remains to be determined. Some months will see a surge in exports and less in others, so it may well be that we don’t see an impact in the immediate quarter,” the person explained.
Currently, such solar cell exports are subject to duties of up to 40%.
The tariffs imposed are in addition to existing tariffs imposed by the Trump administration. A final decision in these CVD investigations is currently scheduled to be issued on July 6, 2026. The Commerce Department is also conducting concurrent anti-dumping duty (AD) investigations on solar cells from India, Indonesia and Laos.
The US International Trade Commission (ITC) said it was also conducting a concurrent injury investigation.
According to public documents on a US trade website reviewed by The Hindu, the petitioner (AASMT) claimed that “…imports of the subject goods from India have increased by more than 15% in a relatively short period of time, which can be considered ‘massive'”.
On September 5, 2025, the US Department of Commerce “preliminarily determined” that there is a “reasonable indication” that the United States industry is “materially injured” by “imports of solar cells from India”.
The document also states that “..Commerce (US Commerce Department) is preliminarily applying available adverse facts (AFA) to Mundra Solar Energy and Mundra Solar PV for their failure to cooperate in this proceeding.”
According to data cited by US authorities, Indian companies exported solar cells worth 232 megawatts (MW) in 2022, rising to 2,049 MW in 2023 and 2,297 MW in 2024. In 2022-23 – $1,000 million worth of photovoltaics and $1,293 million worth of exports, rising to 4 $293 million to $954 million in April-December 2025.
Published – 25 Feb 2026 21:18 IST
