US solar manufacturers file Commerce complaint, alleging Ethiopia is dodging tariffs

Eight U.S. solar manufacturing companies announced they have filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Commerce. In a May 12 statement from the Alliance for American Solar Manufacturing and Trade, the companies allege companies are bypassing tariffs against Chinese solar technology by assembling Chinese components in Ethiopia for export to the United States.

The companies, DYCM Power; First Solar, Inc.; Great Lakes Solex PR; Hanwha Q Cells USA Inc., LLC; Silfab Solar, Inc.; Suniva, Inc.; Swift Solar, LLC, and Talon PV asks the Commerce Department to investigate two Ethiopian companies, TOYO Solar Manufacturing Ethiopia and Origin Solar Manufacturing within 30 days, with an eye towards “immediate relief to domestic producers.”

To support their allegations, the companies said U.S. imports of solar panel components from Ethiopia went from nothing in June 2025 to $300 million by the end of the year. The AASMT noted the increase correlates with similar cases found involving Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam in June 2025 and against India, Indonesia, and Laos in August 2025. The AASMT also said Toyo Ethiopia claims it sourced its relevant parts from Indonesia, but claimed shipping data contradicts this.

In a statement, Tim Brightbill, a partner at Wiley Rein LLP, alleged that Ethiopia is just the latest in a chain of countries external to China used for finishing operations to dodge tariffs on parts and said allowing tariffs to be bypassed would endanger U.S. solar manufacturing.

What people are saying

“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-subsidized 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.”