US slaps 126% duty on Indian solar imports

The US has imposed a hefty 126 per cent preliminary duty on solar imports from India, alleging that the products are being unfairly subsidised by New Delhi.

The move, which is expected to benefit US manufacturers but could also raise prices for consumers, follows a petition filed last year by a group of US solar companies seeking relief from what they termed “unfairly traded imports”. Similar duties have also been slapped on Indonesia (104.38 per cent) and Laos (80.67 per cent), according to a factsheet issued by the US Commerce Department.

The Trump administration has argued that the subsidies undermined domestic producers by allowing foreign companies to sell their goods in the US market at prices below their cost of production. The US imported 57 per cent of its solar modules from India, Indonesia and Laos in the first half of 2025. After the US levied high duties on four South-East Asian nations that had previously accounted for a majority of the imports, some developers switched to obtaining panels from that region, as per the trade data.

Reacting sharply, Congress MP Jairam Ramesh posted on X, “It is quite extraordinary that the US has just imposed 125.87 per cent duty on the import of solar modules from India. What does this say of President Trump’s commitment in letter and spirit to the India-US trade deal so much praised and applauded by his good friend in New Delhi as opening doors for India’s exports to the US?”

Jairam alleged that the deal was “distinctly one-sided”. “India’s imports from the US will be freed up, but exports to the US will be subject to the whims and fancies of the US President. The only way forward is: India must be bold and put the deal on hold.”