(Reuters) – Two Cambodian solar companies will no longer cooperate with a U.S. trade investigation into allegations they are flooding the market with panels priced below production costs, according to documents filed with the Commerce Ministry.
Solar Long and Hounen Solar said in separate letters dated Oct. 15 through a U.S. attorney that they were no longer able to devote resources to the antidumping investigation.
Their lawyer, Craig Lewis of Hogan Lovells, had no further comment.
The latest trade case to roil the U.S. solar market began in April, when several domestic manufacturers asked President Joe Biden’s administration to impose tariffs on products from Vietnam, Cambodia, Malaysia and Thailand — the largest sources of panels in the United States.
Solar Long and Hounen Solar were selected by trade officials in June as so-called mandatory respondents in the survey because of their large export volumes to the United States. Mandatory respondents act as proxies for other producers and are eligible for a different rate than the rate that Commerce applies nationally.
According to U.S. Census Bureau data, Cambodia’s solar energy imports have fallen by about 37% this year.
It was not immediately clear whether the companies would continue to participate in the related anti-subsidy investigation.
Commerce Department officials were not immediately available for comment.
A lawyer for the companies behind the trade case, including Hanwha’s Qcells and First Solar, said Commerce would likely punish the Cambodian manufacturers if they withdraw from the investigation.
“This is an important development as both Cambodian respondents withdraw from the anti-dumping investigation and are not cooperating with the Department of Commerce investigation,” Tim Brightbill, attorney for the American Alliance for Solar Manufacturing Trade Committee, said in a statement.
(Reporting by Nichola Groom; Editing by Sandra Maler)
