The U.S. Commerce Department has launched anti-dumping and countervailing duty investigations into solar cell imports from India, Indonesia, and Laos, following a petition by the Alliance for American Solar Manufacturing and Trade. This petition claims that Indian, Indonesian, and Laos governments give financial subsidies to solar cell producers in their countries, and that these subsidies threaten U.S. companies.
The U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) will now determine if the imports have harmed, or threatened to harm American manufacturers. The preliminary ruling for this is expected by September 2, 2025. If the ITC affirms injury, the Commerce Department will go ahead with its two-track probe with preliminary countervailing duty findings due by Oct. 13 and anti-dumping findings expected by Dec. 26.
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India exported an estimated $790 million worth of these solar products to the U.S., Indonesia $420 million, and Laos $340 million in 2024. The U.S. Department of Commerce has named 43 Indian solar PV module manufacturers in its investigation and plans to follow its usual process in countervailing duty investigations by calculating subsidy rates for individual companies.
These probes have raised concerns among Indian players in the solar industry. An analysis by a research house Care Edge Rating indicated that any adverse action taken by the United States against Indian solar PV module manufacturers will significantly impact their export volumes and margins. It also stated that while the final action taken by the U.S. Department of Commerce against Indian solar PV manufacturers remains to be seen, the result of the investigation is unlikely to come out before the end of the current financial year.
Sabyasachi Majumdar, Senior Director, CareEdge Ratings pointed out that though Indian companies do benefit from policy incentives such as PLI across the solar module value chain, amounting to about Rs.18,000 crore for a cumulative capacity of about 50 GW but “a large part of the 18.6 GW module capacity became operational only over 2024-2025.” Thus, the benefits of the same would be limited to the aforesaid period. Furthermore, while trade barriers such as BCD on Chinese cells and modules and ALMM-I for domestic modules provide a level playing field for the Indian manufacturers against Chinese imports, the benefits are largely seen in the domestic market. Thus, it remains to be seen as to how these subsidies are perceived by the International Trade Commission.
This comes during a time of escalating trade tensions between India and the U.S, fueled by President Donald Trump’s steep tariffs. Citing India’s continued imports of Russian oil and defense equipment, the U.S. imposed a 25% tariff on a broad range of Indian exports starting August 1. These tariffs targeted key Indian sectors like textiles, pharmaceuticals, gems and jewelry, and electronics, industries that together form a significant portion of India’s $87 billion in annual exports to the U.S.