A coalition of US solar manufacturers has filed a new formal request with the US Department of Commerce to initiate an anti-circumvention inquiry into crystalline silicon (c-Si) PV cells and modules assembled in Ethiopia using Chinese-origin components.
The Alliance for American Solar Manufacturing and Trade (AASMT) filing alleges that two solar manufacturers – Toyo Solar and Origin Solar Manufacturing – are using Chinese-origin wafers in solar cells made in Ethiopia, which are then assembled into modules either in Ethiopia or Vietnam for export in the US.
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 coalition – which includes First Solar, Hanwha QCells, DYCM Power, Great Lakes Solex PR, Silfab Solar, Suniva, Swift Solar (as Solx) and Talon PV – alleges that manufacturers are “exploiting Ethiopia as the latest export platform to circumvent existing antidumping and countervailing duty (AD/CVD) orders on solar products by routing Chinese wafers and components through minimal Ethiopian solar manufacturing operations before shipping finished cells and modules to the United States”.
Alleged supply chain transparency issue
Both Toyo Solar and Origin Solar have been producing solar cells in Ethiopia. In the case of Toyo, the company began operations at its facility last year with an annual nameplate capacity of 2GW and has already planned to double that capacity with a second manufacturing cell processing plant in Hawassa.
Rhone Resch, chief strategy officer at Toyo Solar, rebutted the coalition’s claims in a statement to PV Tech.
“Toyo Solar is the largest Japan-owned solar manufacturer of n-type solar cells and modules and is building a substantial domestic manufacturing footprint for both solar cells and modules in the United States in support of our utility-scale customers,” Resch said. “Currently, all solar cells manufactured in Ethiopia use exclusively polysilicon supplied from the US and Malaysia, and our wafers are processed in Southeast Asia. We plan to vigorously clarify these facts through the appropriate official channels.”
Resch recently spoke with PV Tech Premium about the company’s US efforts to build domestic manufacturing capacity (subscription required) with a facility in Texas, aiming to reach 2GW of annual module nameplate capacity this year, along with plans for a domestic cell processing plant.
Meanwhile, Origin Solar began exporting its first batch of solar cells to the US earlier this year, according to public owned company Industrial Parks Development Corporation (IPDC). The manufacturer has a solar processing facility with a 4.2GW annual nameplate capacity of solar cells in Ethiopia.
According to the AASMT, US imports of Ethiopian solar products went from nothing in June 2025 to US$300 million by December 2025.
“What we’re seeing in Ethiopia follows a familiar playbook,” said Tim Brightbill, Partner and Co-Chair of the Trade Practice at Wiley Rein LLP. “For over a decade, state-subsidised manufacturers have responded to U.S. trade enforcement by relocating minimal finishing operations to the next available country, while continuing to source nearly all their inputs from the same foreign suppliers. American solar manufacturing is at an inflection point: with billions invested, thousands of jobs created, and real capacity coming online, we are not going to stand by and allow serial tariff evasion to undercut that progress.”
Fifth solar AD/CVD case
This new request from the coalition comes as an AD/CVD case against three Asian countries – India, Indonesia and Laos – continues; the DoC released preliminary antidumping duties last month, while preliminary countervailing duties were released in February 2026. Final AD/CVD determinations are expected in the second half of 2026.
“The initiation of the AD/CVD investigation targeting Ethiopia represents a continuation of the protectionist trend that originated with China and has progressively expanded to encompass Southeast Asia and India,” said Moustafa Ramadan, head of PV Tech’s Market Research.
This course of action from US manufacturers against Ethiopia is the latest one in a series of solar AD/CVD cases and continues the never-ending game of tariff “whack-a-mole” (subscription required). The coalition mentioned that “similar trends have been observed in the Philippines, the Middle East, and countries in Africa, including Egypt and Nigeria.”
If the Department of Commerce initiates an investigation, this would be the fifth solar-related AD/CVD case, following Chinese c-Si PV products in 2012; Taiwan two years later; Vietnam, Malaysia, Thailand, and Cambodia in 2024 and the ongoing case looking into India, Indonesia and Laos.
The petition from the coalition of US-based manufacturers requests that the DoC initiate an inquiry within 30 days and issue an affirmative preliminary circumvention determination to provide immediate relief to domestic producers.
