Trump’s 25% India tariff will add to US’ solar trade puzzle

July 30, 2025
Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Reddit
Email
The 25% tariff could have an impact on the US solar industry. Image: Gage Skidmore/Wikimedia Commons

Donald Trump has announced a 25% tariff on all imports entering the US from India from the 1st August 2025.

Posted to his social media platform, Truth Social, the president said India was a “friend” whose “tariffs are far too high, among the highest in the world”.

This article requires Premium SubscriptionBasic (FREE) Subscription

Try Premium for just $1

  • Full premium access for the first month at only $1
  • Converts to an annual rate after 30 days unless cancelled
  • Cancel anytime during the trial period

Premium Benefits

  • Expert industry analysis and interviews
  • Digital access to PV Tech Power journal
  • Exclusive event discounts

Or get the full Premium subscription right away

Or continue reading this article for free

The move could have an impact on the US solar industry, which is already being buffeted by changing trade winds.

India has increasingly been spoken of as an emerging supplier to the US solar industry. The country has been building out a solar manufacturing capacity over recent years and has had success in establishing solar cell and module facilities, in particular.

The US industry is contending with new “Foreign Entity of Concern” (FEOC) restrictions on solar products entering the US, after the passage of the budget reconciliation bill earlier this month. This amounts to a restriction on Chinese products for solar projects hoping to attain federal tax credits.

Cells and modules from certain Southeast Asian countries are also subject to antidumping and countervailing duty (AD/CVD) tariffs, and the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) requires stringent supply chain transparency from products suspected to contain components from the Xinjiang region of China.

India has been seen as a potential alternative for solar supply as the US becomes increasingly closed to Chinese products, either directly or via satellite operations. Vinay Rustagi, chief business officer at Premier Energies, told PV Tech Premium last month why he believes India could emerge as the alternative to China’s global PV hegemony.

Shipments from India to the US have increased in recent years. Data from PV Tech Market Research (below) shows that module imports from Indian manufacturers grew massively in 2023, and reached over 8GW in 2024. That figure is forecast to drop slightly this year.

Some Indian solar manufacturers, like Waaree Energies, have also set up manufacturing facilities in the US.

But this new 25% tariff could complicate this situation, making products from India more expensive for US buyers and increasing costs for Indian manufacturers like Waaree, who expected to ship cells from India to make modules in the US.

To add to the picture, the US Department of Commerce (DOC) recently announced a new round of AD/CVD tariff investigations, targeting India, Laos, and Indonesia. If these are successful and AD/CVD tariffs are imposed, Indian supply will become even less attractive to US companies, and the routes for tariff-free solar supply to the US will become very few.

We will follow this story as it develops.

16 June 2026
Napa, USA
PV Tech has been running PV ModuleTech Conferences since 2017. PV ModuleTech USA, on 16-17 June 2026, will be our fifth PV ModulelTech conference dedicated to the U.S. utility scale solar sector. The event will gather the key stakeholders from solar developers, solar asset owners and investors, PV manufacturing, policy-making and and all interested downstream channels and third-party entities. The goal is simple: to map out the PV module supply channels to the U.S. out to 2027 and beyond.

Read Next

October 23, 2025
US solar manufacturer T1 Energy sold approximately 725MW of solar modules in Q3 2025, as it continues to expand US manufacturing capabilities.
October 22, 2025
Recurrent Energy, Ampliform and Dimension Energy have announced new financing rounds this month for US solar projects.
Sponsored
October 22, 2025
LONGi vice president Dennis She discusses the value logic behind the company's strategic focus on back contact technology.
October 22, 2025
Leeward Renewable Energy has started commercial operations at its 177MW Ridgely solar project in the US state of Tennessee.
October 22, 2025
US thin-film manufacturer First has revealed another transfer of its 45X manufacturing tax credits in a deal worth around US$775 million.
October 22, 2025
Abigail Ross Hopper, the president and CEO of US trade association the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA), has decided to step down from her roles at the end of January 2026.

Subscribe to Newsletter

Upcoming Events

Solar Media Events
November 25, 2025
Warsaw, Poland
Solar Media Events
December 2, 2025
Málaga, Spain
Solar Media Events
February 3, 2026
London, UK
Solar Media Events
March 10, 2026
Frankfurt, Germany
Solar Media Events
March 24, 2026
Lisbon, Portugal