By Admin 
Indian solar to USA: US President Donald Trump has decided to impose initial duties of 126 percent on solar imports from India. This step may jeopardize the ongoing trade agreement between India and America.
The US Commerce Department imposed this duty because it felt that India unfairly subsidized its domestic solar panel manufacturing, making Indian products cheaper than American manufacturers. Apart from this, the department fixed the initial fee at 86 to 143 percent for Indonesia and 81 percent for Laos.
Impact on India-US trade agreement
This decision has come at a time when a few weeks ago New Delhi and Washington had decided the framework of the India-US trade agreement. There was a provision to reduce the earlier tariff on Indian exports from 50 percent to 18 percent. Earlier, the US Supreme Court had declared Donald Trump’s old tariffs unconstitutional. After this, Donald Trump imposed a 10 percent baseline duty on most imports under the new rule and threatened to increase it to 15 percent.
This new policy makes it clear that “America First” policy is the first priority for America, even if strategic trade agreements are left behind for this. For this reason, Indian and American officials have also postponed the three-day meeting scheduled this week.
Solar supply chain situation
The increase in imports from India, Indonesia and Laos, which accounted for 57 percent of total US solar module imports in the first half of 2025, is believed to be primarily driven by companies avoiding Chinese companies. Chinese manufacturers are facing strict regulations in the US and hence they are shifting production to Southeast Asia. India has been the biggest beneficiary of this change. Solar panel imports from India will reach $792.6 million in 2024, which is nine times more than in 2022.
American domestic industry got relief
Tim Brightbill, chief counsel for the American Solar Manufacturing and Trade Alliance, called it a win for domestic investment. He said that “If the market is affected by unfair trade, then domestic investment will not be successful.”
But this fee is a big challenge for American solar companies. Stoppage of supplies from India may increase project costs, while the industry is already grappling with high interest rates and policy uncertainty. The US department is going to take the final decision on the subsidy by July 6, 2026. An anti-dumping investigation will also be completed at the same time.