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Waaree Energies in focus as US initiates probe for evading solar tariffs that apply on China
Waaree Energies’ share price has more than doubled since listing in October 2024 “on an optimistic outlook for India’s renewable energy sector”.
The United States is investigating whether Waaree Energies Ltd., India’s largest solar panel maker, is in violation of solar tariffs imposed on China and other Southeast Asian countries.
The US Customs and Border Protection has started a formal investigation into Waaree Energies and Waaree Solar Americas and imposed interim measures on “reasonable suspicion” on duty evasion, according to a public notice obtained by Bloomberg.
That, after the American Alliance for Solar Manufacturing Trade Committee alleged that Waaree Energies was mislabeling solar cells that originated in China as coming from India to avoid tariffs on Chinese solar products.
“Indian solar products have been among the lowest prices in the market, and now we know why that’s possible: by using Chinese cells and not paying the duties that apply to them,” Tim Brightbill, the group's attorney, said in a statement.
Waaree didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Waaree Energies is in the business of manufacturing solar products—panels, modules, PV cells and inverters, etc.—so much so that it’s already the largest renewables company in India. The company’s share price has doubled in less than a year since listing on an optimistic outlook for India’s renewables sector amid steep US tariffs on other parts of the economy.
US imports of solar panels from India have surged in the last two years after the Commerce Department imposed punitive tariffs on solar products from Vietnam, Cambodia, Malaysia and Thailand. Tariffs on Chinese solar panels have been in effect for more than a decade.
To be sure, US solar manufacturers have been calling for higher tariffs on imported photovoltaic equipment that they say is being unfairly subsidised and dumped into their market. In August, the US Commerce Department launched a new probe on modules from Indonesia, Laos and India after US makers filed a complaint.
