US to exempt tariffs on Southeast Asian solar panels for 24 months

U.S. President Joe Biden is due to allow solar panels to be imported to the U.S. from Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam without risk of tariffs for a 24-month period.

The action, to be announced by the U.S. President from Washington on Monday, comes amid concern about the impact of the U.S. Commerce Department's months-long investigation into whether imports of solar panels from the four Southeast Asian nations are circumventing tariffs on goods made in China.

The Biden administration announced last week that it would cut the cost of building wind and solar power projects on U.S. public land by 50%.

“The new policy will reduce rents and fees substantially and enhance rate predictability for wind and solar developers. On average, the [Bureau of Land Management] expects rents and fees to decrease by over 50% due to lower acreage rents and a standard megawatt fee that promotes more efficient wind and solar or hybrid projects on public lands,” the U.S. Department of the Interior stated.

The department is reportedly working to permit 25 gigawatts of clean energy on public lands by 2025, enough to power around 4.75 million homes. Meanwhile, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) last year permitted 2.89 GW, up 35% from 2020.

The department will also establish renewable energy coordination offices in BLM offices in western states to increase staff numbers to process renewable energy environmental reviews and permit applications.

“Across the 245 million acres of public land it manages, the BLM has prioritized a combined total of roughly 870,000 acres for solar energy development within its land use plans. Under a scenario where 8.5 acres is needed to generate 1 megawatt of electricity from photovoltaic solar panels, these prioritized areas could support more than 100 gigawatts of electricity, enough to power more than 29 million homes,” the BLM’s website states.

“In addition to the prioritized areas, the BLM maintains more than 19 million additional acres as open for potential solar development, subject to a variance process.”

Vietnam has attracted global producers of solar modules and panels, with major American, Canadian, and Chinese investors already present, as the tropical country is ramping up investment in solar and wind power.

Shanghai-based JinkoSolar, First Solar from Tempe, Arizona, and Canada-headquartered Canadian Solar have made manufacturing in Vietnam an important part of their global production networks.

JinkoSolar, one of the world’s top makers of solar modules, has 12 production facilities globally, including two in Vietnam. Both are in northern Quang Ninh province’s Song Khoai Industrial Park, developed by Thailand’s Amata Corp. Meanwhile, U.S. major First Solar operates three production sites globally - in Ohio; Malaysia’s Kulim; and Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam’s southern economic hub. It has invested $830 million in two manufacturing facilities in the Vietnamese city.