Biden Again Increases Solar Safeguard TRQ Retroactive to Aug. 1
President Joe Biden is again increasing the quantity of solar cells allowed under a Section 201 safeguard tariff-rate quota, he said in a proclamation issued Aug. 12. Retroactively effective for entries on or after Aug. 1, imports up to a 12.5 GW limit will now be allowed in duty-free, up from 5 GW prior to that date.
The increase follows a four-year renewal of the safeguard TRQ in February 2022 that also increased the quota amount, from 2.5 GW to 5 GW (see 2202040003). By law, the International Trade Commission was required to issue a report on the safeguard at the two-year midpoint of the extension. It found the safeguard was having its intended positive effect on the U.S. solar industry (see 2402080061).
A “majority” of domestic industry representatives also submitted a request in September 2023 asking for the TRQ to be eliminated entirely, or have its limit increased to 20 GW, the proclamation said.
“I have determined that the domestic industry has been making and is continuing to make a positive adjustment to import competition, shown by increased actual and planned module production; various announcements of planned domestic cell production; and improvements in several of the domestic industry’s financial, trade, and employment indicators,” Biden said in the proclamation. “Furthermore, I have determined that expected domestic module production and associated imports of CSPV cells have increased such that it is necessary to modify the action” by increasing the TRQ.
The safeguard TRQ is still set to expire on Feb. 6, 2026.
The retroactive extension means entries of solar products that came in above the prior TRQ limit of GW on or after the Aug. 1 effective date for the increase will now be subject to the new 12.5 GW limit and “shall not be assessed safeguard tariffs unless they enter into the United States above the modified TRQ limit of 12.5 GW,” the proclamation said.
“SEIA strongly commends President Biden’s decisive action to support American solar module manufacturers by raising the Section 201 tariff rate quota on cells,” Solar Energy Industries Association CEO Abigail Ross Hopper said in a statement Aug. 13. “This move provides an important bridge for module producers to access the supply they need while the United States continues to progress on solar cell manufacturing. This decision will help create a strong, stable module manufacturing sector that can sustain robust cell production in the long run.”