What India’s Solar Tariff Exemption Could Mean for the US Market

New documents show that a few countries with significant solar manufacturing facilities are exempt from Trump’s new solar tariffs, which could help U.S. developers.

The market impact from new solar tariffs announced earlier this week is shaping up to be less severe than it could have been. But while analysts don’t expect solar cell and module prices to skyrocket, some big business decisions will be made in the coming weeks and months around the modest price increase — which has prompted a series of questions around how, exactly, the new tariffs will be implemented.

One of the interesting pieces of information revealed in trade documents obtained by GTM this week is that crystalline silicon solar products from India are not subject to the new tariffs.

Annex I of President Trump’s proclamation confirms India is on the list of Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) beneficiary countries, which are exempt from import tariffs because they currently account for a small portion of U.S. solar imports. This is significant for the manufacturers operating in India — and there are several notable ones — and for U.S. solar project developers looking to procure tariff-free panels. Read more…