America Restores the 201 Tariff Exemption for Photovoltaic Modules, its Rising Exports May Support Silicon Material Prices

SHANGHAI, Nov 18 (SMM) - The photovoltaic sector ushered in limit up in the afternoon. The United States Court of International Trade (CIT) officially announced on November 16 the restoration of the 201 tariff exemption for two-sided solar modules and lowered the 201 clause tariff rate to 15% from 18%. Under these two changes, the additional tariffs previously levied will be refunded to relevant companies. The photovoltaic products exported to the United States by companies including Longi Green Energy Technology, JKS, CSIQ, Trina Solar and other companies were detained by border customs due to withhold release orders (WRO) in the previous period, which has caused concerns about increasing difficulties in exporting photovoltaic modules to the United States.

An analyst in the photovoltaic industry said that domestic modules are cost-effective. US companies will bear a higher price due to the continuous increase of tariffs or the blockage of US module imports due to specific investigations. Data shows that the 2.4GW module manufacturing capacity in the United States is not enough to support the continuously rising demand (the US Department of Energy predicts that the average installed capacity will exceed 30GW in 2021-2025).

Silicon material prices have risen since Q3 last year.The tight supply has been the root cause of polysilicon price increases. The increase of silicon material prices slowed amid the declining operating rates.  

Some analysts said that export demand stimulated the increase in module production capacity, coupled with the peak season of domestic photovoltaic installations in Q4, the supply of silicon material will be tightened, which are expected to support silicon prices.