According to Bloomberg reports on May 4, the U.S. Senate passed a resolution with 56 votes to 41 votes aimed at lifting the tariff exemption for Southeast Asian photovoltaic panels. If the resolution was eventually approved by the White House, tariffs on solar panels imported from Southeast Asia could be up to 254 percent.

The adoption of the resolution will affect Southeast Asian countries including Vietnam, Malaysia, Thailand and Cambodia, which are among the largest suppliers to the U.S. solar market, Sen. Ron Weiden said the resolution aims to ensure fair competition in the U.S. solar market and create more jobs for the U.S. solar manufacturing industry.

Opponents, however, believe that the move will cause significant damage to the U.S. solar industry, as the U.S. solar industry’s supply chain relies heavily on solar panel suppliers in Southeast Asia. A spokesman for the Solar Industry Association said that lifting the tariff exemption could lead to increased costs in the solar industry, thereby slowing the U.S.’ clean energy transition process.

The resolution also needs approval from the House of Representatives and the White House before it comes into force, so there is still uncertainty if it is eventually passed and implemented, so solar power manufacturers in Southeast Asia will face huge pressure and the U.S. solar market may further shrink.

On April 28, the U.S. House passed a resolution requiring the Biden government to resume tariffs on Southeast Asia’s solar panels. The resolution was passed by 221 votes to 202 in the House of Representatives, but Biden had already said he would veto the resolution and retain the tariff exemption suspension until early June 2024. Earlier, the White House announced a two-year tariff exemption for solar panels in four countries such as Southeast Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam, and cited the Defense Production Act to support domestic solar panel manufacturing. If this two-year tariff exemption was lifted, U.S. solar developers could face a total of $1 billion in retractable tariffs. The Solar Industry Association said that the restoration of tariff policies would put the future at risk, and