First Solar Applauds Comprehensive Section 232 Action on Polysilicon and Derivatives
Company backs enforcement to enable a level playing field for American solar manufacturing, workers
First Solar, Inc. (Nasdaq: FSLR) ("First Solar" or "the Company") today voiced strong support for the Trump Administration’s action on imports of polysilicon and its derivatives under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act, a move aimed at loosening China's grip on a critical supply chain.
Polysilicon is a foundational input for crystalline silicon solar modules, and Chinese producers control more than 90 percent of the global supply, a concentration that is itself a security risk. That control has given a single government outsized sway over the cost and availability of the material and its derivatives, created opaque supply chains that carry forced labor exposure, and enabled anti-competitive measures at a cost to American solar manufacturers and their workers.
“First Solar strongly commends the Trump Administration's Section 232 national security action on polysilicon and its derivatives, one of the most strategically significant trade measures in decades,” said Mark Widmar, chief executive officer, First Solar. “For years, China-linked supply chains dumped below cost and circumvented US laws to undercut American workers and their livelihoods, while creating a strategic vulnerability. This action closes that loophole, and it is built to be enforced, with a minimum import price, an ad valorem tariff behind it, and real consequences for violators. That is the fair shot at a level playing field that American manufacturers and workers have earned.”
