New U.S. Duties on Solar Panels From India, Indonesia and Laos: What Homeowners Should Know

Federal trade regulators have cleared the way for steep new duties on solar cells and panels imported from India, Indonesia and Laos. On October 14, 2026, the U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC) found that those imports injure U.S. solar manufacturers. That vote lets the Commerce Department issue antidumping and countervailing duty orders. Commerce’s final rates, added together, come to roughly 147% to 268%, depending on the country and company.

For homeowners and installers, the practical question is where a panel’s cells come from. Panels with cells from those three countries will cost importers more. Panels with cells made elsewhere are not covered by these orders, though a separate tariff on polysilicon products is scheduled for December.

What Happened

The USITC said Chairman Brett W. Doyle and Commissioners Jason E. Kearns, Peter-Anthony Pappas, Bart Thanhauser and David Foley Jr. voted in the affirmative; Commissioner Samuel T. Negatu did not participate. On “critical circumstances,” which can extend duties back to earlier shipments, it made negative findings for certain imports from India and Laos and an affirmative finding for certain imports from Indonesia. PV Tech reported in September that the orders were scheduled for November 2 if the vote was affirmative.

The case was brought by the Alliance for American Solar Manufacturing and Trade, whose members are Hanwha Q CELLS USA, First Solar and Mission Solar Energy, according to Commerce.

The Final Rates

Commerce’s final rates, announced September 11, 2026, are percentages of the imported product’s value. Antidumping (AD) duties address sales below fair value; countervailing duties (CVD) address government subsidies.

Source: International Trade Administration. Combined figures are our sums. *Vietnam Sunergy is not separately listed in the antidumping results; we assume the Laos-wide rate applies, as PV Tech also did. Commerce lists lower AD cash deposit rates after subsidy offsets for India (107.17%) and Laos (65.03%), so the deposit actually collected can be below the simple sum. Many of the rates are based on “facts available with adverse inferences,” which Commerce uses when companies don’t fully cooperate.

Which Panels Are Covered

The duties cover crystalline silicon photovoltaic cells from the three countries, “whether or not assembled into modules.” Commerce’s scope language for India says:

• Covered: modules, laminates and panels produced in a third country from cells produced in a subject country.
• Not covered: modules, laminates and panels produced in a subject country from cells produced in a third country.

So a panel assembled in, say, Mexico with Indian cells is covered when imported, and Indian cells imported on their own are covered as cells. A panel assembled in India with cells from elsewhere is not covered by this case, though other duties may apply to it.

How big was this trade? Census data cited by Commerce show 2024 imports of about 2.30 gigawatts from India ($793 million), 1.80 GW from Indonesia ($415 million) and 1.91 GW from Laos ($336 million), about 6.0 GW and $1.54 billion combined. Imports from Laos were near zero in 2022 and 2023.

A Second Tariff Arrives December 4

Separately, President Trump signed a Section 232 proclamation on August 6, 2026, “Adjusting Imports of Polysilicon and its Derivatives into the United States.” According to a White & Case analysis, it sets a 15% tariff on polysilicon derivatives (ingots, wafers, solar cells and solar modules; raw polysilicon faces only a price floor), effective December 4, 2026, with minimum import prices of $0.22 per watt for cells and $0.38 per watt for modules. White & Case says the Section 232 tariff stacks with antidumping and countervailing duties. Imports from the United Kingdom face 10%, and for Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and the European Union the combined rate is capped at 15%.

Unlike the trade case, the Section 232 tariff is not limited to India, Indonesia and Laos.

What This Means for Your Solar Quote

There is no published estimate of how much these duties will change residential prices, and we won’t guess. A few things are clear:

• Panels are one part of the price. EnergySage reported a median of $2.57 per watt for complete home systems in the first half of 2026, before incentives. A duty on imported panels raises one part of that.
• The effect depends on your installer’s supply. Installers using panels with cells from other countries, or made in the United States, are not directly affected by this case. Companies named in Commerce’s determinations include PT REC Solar Energy Indonesia and Premier Energies Photovoltaic of India, among others.
• Some of the cost may already be in the market. Importers began posting provisional cash deposits after the preliminary decisions earlier in 2026.
• Existing systems are not affected. Duties are collected on imports, not on panels already installed.

What to Ask Before You Sign

1. Which panel model, and where are its cells made? Ask in writing. The cell’s country of manufacture is what matters for this case.
2. Can the price change before installation? Read whether your contract allows a price increase or an equipment substitution, and on what terms.
3. If panels are substituted, what replaces them? Get the replacement model, wattage and warranty before agreeing.
4. Compare like with like. Our solar quote checklist explains how to put quotes on a price-per-watt basis, and our guide to leasing vs. buying covers financing choices now that the homeowner tax credit has ended.

For context on where home solar prices stood before these duties, see our report on EnergySage’s first-half 2026 data.

Limitations

We relied on the USITC’s October 14 release (updated October 15) and Commerce’s published final determinations; we did not read the full determinations or the USITC report, which is not yet public. Section 232 details come from a law firm analysis, not our own reading of the proclamation. We could not reopen EnergySage’s report this run; its $2.57 median is confirmed in independent coverage. Duty rates can change in later administrative reviews or on appeal.

Sources and verification