Solar industry fears job loss as US mulls curbs on imports

Trump expected to announce by early next year measures that his administration will take to limit imports

Singapore-headquartered solar panel maker REC hopes to be exempt from potential US restrictions on imports following a recent trade finding that said no significant injury to the US had been caused by makers including those from Australia, Canada and Singapore.

US President Donald Trump is expected to announce by early next year measures that his administration will take to limit imports after the US International Trade Commission found in September that US panel makers had been harmed by cheap imports.

Many companies have warned that a solar trade dispute involving potential import tariffs between the US and other countries could cost thousands of jobs and slow down the development of the clean energy technology.

The US International Trade Commission (USITC) in September found injury from imports from several countries with which it has free trade agreements (FTA), including Mexico and South Korea.

However, USITC said that “with respect to other FTA countries” including Canada, Australia or Singapore, there was “not a substantial cause of serious injury”.

Final ruling

Still, REC Chief Executive Steve O’Neil said the industry was watching closely.

“We’re certainly paying a lot of attention to it. We will know more once the Trump administration makes their final ruling,” he told Reuters.

More than 90 per cent of the world’s solar panel-making capacity is in Asia, with China accounting for 70 per cent of the output followed by Southeast Asia, O’Neil said.

High costs, the lack of raw materials and infrastructure make it hard for US solar panel producers to compete with those in Asia, forcing several US solar makers into bankruptcy in the past years.

REC was founded in Norway but is headquartered in Singapore and majority-owned by China National Chemical Corp (ChemChina).

The company has production capacity of 1.5 gigawatts (GW) and sells about half of its panels in the US, 30 per cent to Europe and the rest in Asia.

Despite the concentration in Asia, O’Neil said the global solar market remained fragmented, with hundreds of panel makers competing and no single firm having a market share of more than 8 per cent.

“We know consolidation is coming and maturing will happen, but right now, it’s still a race for scale, for technology...”

The world is expected to add up to 100GW of solar power capacity this year that will bring the cumulative installed capacity to 300-350 GW, O’Neil said.