Here comes the sun, do-do-do-do

The Biden administration announced a pair of executive actions yesterday intended to resolve conflicts within the solar industry, which stem from an ongoing Commerce Department probe into allegations that Chinese companies are dodging US tariffs.

☀️🔌 Background: In March, the federal gov’t launched an investigation on behalf of US-based manufacturer Auxin Solar, which accused Chinese companies of avoiding tariffs on solar panels by routing their operations through Cambodia, Thailand, Vietnam, and Malaysia.

• At the time, the Commerce Department said their probe could lead to retroactive fines on imports from those countries, which are major suppliers to the US solar industry.
• Solar companies warned the threat of impending tariffs would negatively affect planned US installations; per consulting firm Rystad Energy, the federal investigation jeopardized 64% of the new solar-power capacity that developers had been expected to install this year.

⏩📅 That brings us to yesterday… when the Biden administration declared a two-year tariff exemption for solar panel products from the four Southeast Asian nations, and invoked the Defense Production Act to increase domestic production.

📈 The market reacts: US solar energy stocks soared on the news, with notable jumps seen in Array (+18%), Sunrun (+11%), SunPower (+7%) and Enphase (+7%).