Why Solar Panel Prices Will Soon Increase Due To New US Laws
The Department of Commerce has determined that solar panel manufacturers in four Southeast Asian countries are evading U.S. trade rules by using Chinese-sourced materials subject to tariffs without paying applicable duties. Those countries — Vietnam, Malaysia, Thailand, and Cambodia — are responsible for nearly three-quarters of solar modules imported to the United States. Several manufacturers from these countries, whose goods still run with Obama-era solar tariffs will be subject to additional import duties on their products.
The ruling means that new Solar Panel Prices Might Increase.
When will the price of solar panels increase?
These duties will not begin to be assessed until June 2024, when a waiver put in place by the Biden administration is set to expire. This waiver temporarily exempting the solar industry from any new costs associated with the investigations is supposed to allow installers like SolarTech to adjust our supply chains to ensure compliance with U.S. trade rules.
What Can You Do?
The domestic solar manufacturing industry was set to increase during the next year due to investments from the current administration, most notably the Inflation Reduction Act, but once the tariff waiver expires in June 2024, solar panel prices could increase, and make new interested solar buyers invest more than what they would if they decide to go solar today.