A coalition of U.S. solar manufacturers has asked the U.S. Department of Commerce to investigate solar panel imports from Ethiopia, alleging that Chinese-linked companies are using the country to bypass existing American tariffs on Chinese solar products.
According to a filing submitted Tuesday, the group claims that Japan-based Toyo and Origin Solar Manufacturing are importing Chinese-made wafers into Ethiopia, producing solar cells locally, and then assembling them into panels in Ethiopia or Vietnam before exporting them to the United States.
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The petition argues that the practice amounts to tariff circumvention, which is prohibited under U.S. trade law when products are rerouted through third countries with only minor processing changes to avoid duties.
The coalition behind the request includes major U.S. solar manufacturers such as First Solar and Qcells, the solar manufacturing unit of Hanwha, alongside six smaller producers. The companies have collectively invested billions of dollars into expanding domestic solar manufacturing capacity in the United States.
Ethiopia has recently emerged as a growing player in the global solar manufacturing supply chain. U.S. imports of solar products from Ethiopia were virtually nonexistent before mid-2025, but surged to approximately $300 million by the end of last year, making Ethiopia the seventh-largest source of solar imports into the U.S.
Tim Brightbill, lead attorney for the petitioning group, said the situation in Ethiopia reflects a “familiar playbook” used to evade U.S. trade measures.
The latest filing comes amid a broader U.S. effort to protect domestic solar manufacturing from heavily subsidized imports. Washington has maintained anti-dumping and countervailing duties on Chinese solar products for over a decade and has previously expanded tariffs to imports from Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam after Chinese manufacturers shifted production to those countries.
Source: Reuters
