A bipartisan group of four U.S. representatives sent a letter to U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the Internal Revenue Service on Thursday requesting a crackdown on imports of partially finished solar cells. Representatives Mike Bost (R-Ill.), Pat Harrigan (R-N.C.), Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), and Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio) alleged that companies are using these "blue wafers" to circumvent trade duties and claim federal manufacturing tax credits.
The lawmakers stated that these wafers are thin slices of silicon that have undergone enough processing to generate electricity but are imported as incomplete components to avoid tariffs. Once in the United States, the products undergo final processing, which the lawmakers claim allows companies to improperly access tax incentives meant for domestic production. The letter argued that this practice puts domestic manufacturers at a competitive disadvantage.
The request follows existing U.S. trade policies that impose anti-dumping and countervailing duties on solar cells from China and several other Asian nations. The Solar Energy Manufacturers for America Coalition, which includes producers like First Solar and Qcells, issued a statement in support of the lawmakers' request, citing billions in domestic investment that they believe are threatened by duty evasion. No response from the targeted government agencies was reported at the time of publication.