US Tariff On Chinese Solar Panels Creates 'Level Playing Field,' Says First Solar CEO

The Biden administration’s doubling of the U.S. tariff on Chinese solar panels is key to protecting the domestic market from China’s predatory behavior, says Mark Widmar, CEO of First Solar, Inc. FSLR.

First Solar is expected to report second-quarter earnings after Tuesday’s market close, more than two months after the Biden administration announced that the tariff on Chinese solar panels would increase to 50%.

“What we’re trying to do is make sure that we have a level playing field so that all U.S. companies who manufacture here in the U.S. have an opportunity to compete on their own merits,” Widmar said on Monday during an interview with CNBC.

“This is just one of many tools that’s already part of the overall policy environment that we think is instrumental to ensure that there’s a level playing field and there’s opportunities for cycles of innovation to happen here in the U.S. and ultimately support of long term energy independence and security.”

China is flooding solar panel markets in the U.S. and other countries with less expensive panels because it has an oversupply that is four times the demand in its own country, he said.

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“Right now, they’re dumping that product into international markets and doing that is creating an unfair competitive advantage and devastating others that are trying to compete and create self-sufficiency around this emerging technology that we think we need here in the U.S. and other markets,” Widmar said.

“Someone has to step back and reflect upon what China’s predatory behavior is doing.”

The U.S. has a bloated inventory of more than 30 gigawatts of solar panels, in great part due to China “dumping” solar panels into the U.S. market, Widmar said.

Beijing is trying to correct China’s oversupply of solar panels, but it should not do that at the expense of other countries, he added.

“Our view is if China wants to destroy its own industry let it do that on their own accord,” Widmar said.

“Let’s not paint that into the U.S. market.”

Price Action: Shares of First Solar fell 2.80% to $220.40 on Monday, as did a majority of the exchange-traded funds that hold the stock.

• Global X CleanTech ETF CTEC slipped 2.05%.
• Global X Solar ETF RAYS declined 2.91%.
• Invesco Solar ETF TAN dropped 2.41%.
• Virtus Duff & Phelps Clean Energy ETF VCLN gained 1.83%.
• IShares Global Clean Energy ETF NASDAQ: ICLN) went down 0.85%.

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Image created using artificial intelligence via Midjourney.