Solar firm seeking US trade probe says opponents are fearmongering

The head of a small California solar-panel maker asking Washington to investigate whether Asian competitors are evading U.S. tariffs says industry claims that a mere probe could freeze investments is fearmongering.

“If nothing has been done wrong, there’s nothing to be afraid of,” Auxin Solar Inc. Chief Executive Officer Mamun Rashid said in his first interview since the company petitioned the U.S. Commerce Department in February to initiate an investigation.

While solar power has become a key resource in the U.S.’s fight against climate change, the country is dependent on Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia to meet much of its demand for new panels. The U.S. saw a small uptick in domestic manufacturing during Donald Trump’s presidency, but one new factory is already slated to wind down panel production this spring—a setback for President Joe Biden’s manufacturing push.

Auxin’s petition has frightened some solar-industry groups that say a probe could expose imports to retroactive tariffs—and risks slowing a sector already grappling with higher costs and supply-chain constraints. The Commerce Department is set to decide by March 25 whether to formally investigate equipment that’s assembled in Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia using parts and components from China.

Auxin was founded in 2008 thinking that U.S. manufacturing could be competitive, but the company didn’t anticipate how aggressive China “would price their products to win over market-share,” Rashid said. Many U.S. companies failed to survive.

“It has been a very tough road for the last 14 years,” he said.