Trump Order Sets 15% Tariff, Price Floors on Polysilicon Imports

Article content

(Bloomberg) — President Donald Trump ordered new tariffs as well as price floors on imported polysilicon used in semiconductors and solar panels, warning that US reliance on foreign supplies threatens national security.

Article content

Under Trump’s directive, imported polysilicon derivatives, including silicon wafers, photovoltaic cells and solar modules, will be subject to 15% tariffs, beginning Dec. 4. The president signed the proclamation on Thursday.

Article content

Article content

The measure also sets minimum import prices of $21 per kilogram for polysilicon; $100 per kilogram for polysilicon ingots and wafers; 22 cents per watt for solar cells and 38 cents per watt for solar modules.

Article content

Article content

The action is meant to encourage domestic production of polysilicon and goods made from it, potentially helping nurture a US solar supply chain that has struggled for more than a decade to take root in the US. The measures follow a series of US trade cases that have resulted in duties on solar equipment from China and some Southeast Asian nations. Foreign manufacturers have been found shifting production among countries to dodge tariffs. 

Article content

Article content

The new import fees also threaten to raise the cost of solar modules, another headwind for renewable power developers already navigating the loss of federal subsidies and a Trump administration pivot in favor of rival fossil fuels.

Article content

Shares of companies with domestic solar manufacturing operations jumped in after-hours trading. First Solar Inc., the nation’s biggest solar maker, climbed as much as 8%. T1 Energy Inc. climbed 6.3%.

Article content

While the US was once a leader producing polysilicon in the early to mid 2000s, Chinese companies rose to prominence and by the end of the last decade were the world’s dominant producer.  

Article content

The order directs an incentive program meant to lure US production of polysilicon and its derivative products, with the Commerce secretary authorized to enter into company-specific deals to incentivize those investments.

Article content

Article content

Companies also will be able to win tariff relief in some cases tied to their investments in the US — so-called onshoring plans that will be vetted by the Commerce secretary, under Trump’s order. Firms with onshoring plans that win the administration’s approval will be able to import some necessary production equipment and inputs without paying the newly ordered tariffs.

Article content

The delayed tariff implementation is a blow to US manufacturers that had warned it will give renewable power developers time to surge cheap imports and build a stockpile of duty-free equipment. But Trump’s order says that the administration will police trade and act to restrict imports by companies found to be stockpiling polysilicon or polysilicon derivatives.

Article content

‘Decisive Win’

Article content

The move was heralded by manufacturing allies.

Article content

“For the first time, the United States is protecting the entire solar supply chain with a single action — and rewarding the manufacturers that build here — while taking a significant step to bolster the domestic semiconductor supply chain. This is how you reshore an industry,” said Jon Toomey, president of the Coalition for a Prosperous America.