US Imposes 126.09% Countervailing Duty on Solar Cells from India, Indonesia and Laos
Key Facts
On November 9, the US Department of Commerce issued a final countervailing duty order on solar cells imported from India, Indonesia and Laos, following affirmative final determinations by the department and the International Trade Commission. The order set the rate at 126.09% for Mundra Solar Energy and Mundra Solar PV, and the same rate applied to the other Indian producers and exporters covered. The department said the rate was based on facts available with adverse inferences. The order is part of a broader trade investigation into imports from three Asian countries, not only Adani companies. In the same case, the department reported a weighted-average dumping margin of 123.04% and an adjusted cash deposit rate of 107.17% for the two Indian companies.
The difference between the two rates reflects separate tracks in the decision: the countervailing duty rate of 126.09%, and the anti-dumping cash deposit rate after accounting for countervailing duty offsets, at 107.17%. The 123.04% figure is the weighted-average dumping margin the department set for Mundra and other Indian companies, not the duty rate imposed on all Indian solar cell imports. These rates appear in the final results published by the Department of Commerce, while the final countervailing duty order was issued on November 9. The orders set values tied to covered producers and exporters, so the rate for the specified Indian companies cannot be applied broadly to every shipment or exporter from India. The inclusion of “all others” in the countervailing duty table places the 126.09% rate on the other Indian category covered by the order.
The orders cover more than standalone imported cells: they include crystalline silicon cells, as well as modules, laminates and panels made from covered cells, whether partially or fully assembled into other products. The case covers imports from India, Indonesia and Laos, with varying subsidy rates among producers in the latter two countries. In Indonesia, the listed rates ranged from 73.20% to 173.70%, and in Laos from 82.03% to 153.67%. These differences show that the orders set rates by company and country, rather than imposing a single rate on all Asian imports. The International Trade Commission found that imports from the three countries materially injured a US industry and notified the Department of Commerce of its final determinations on November 2.
The decision coincided with a sharp increase in US imports of solar cells from India during the period reported by the Department of Commerce. The value of those imports rose from $83,865,782 in 2022 to $792,648,250 in 2024. Their volume increased from 232,420,657 watts to 2,297,306,441 watts over the same period. The data put import growth in the context of the investigation, without by themselves determining the duties’ effect on companies or future trade flows. The petition was filed by the Alliance for American Solar Manufacturing and Trade, which includes Hanwha Qcells USA, First Solar and Mission Solar Energy.
The final orders followed a period of provisional measures in both investigations. In the countervailing duty case, the four-month provisional measures period ended on June 25, 2026, and the order stated that entries made from June 26 would not be subject to countervailing duty assessment under it until the International Trade Commission’s final determinations were published. The extended provisional measures period in the anti-dumping case ended on October 24. The order says suspension of liquidation and collection of cash deposits will resume when the commission’s final determinations are published in the Federal Register. The commission announced on October 14 that its affirmative determinations would allow the Department of Commerce to issue anti-dumping and countervailing duty orders.
In its critical circumstances determination, the commission found no critical circumstances for certain imports from India and Laos, and found them for certain imports from Indonesia, affecting the treatment of some earlier entries. The commission is scheduled to make its public report on the investigation available on its website by November 23, 2026. That is the announced date for the next public document related to the case, following notification of the final determinations to the Department of Commerce on November 2 and publication of the orders on November 9. The published orders do not estimate their financial impact on Mundra or other covered companies. The department also did not specify whether companies would change their export destinations or production plans.