The Trump administration will announce as soon as Thursday a 15% tariff on products made from polysilicon — the key raw material for solar panels and semiconductors — plus a series of minimum import prices, according to four sources familiar with the matter.
The move, first reported by Reuters, aims to protect U.S. polysilicon factories from China's growing ambitions in the chip supply chain, and caps a year-long national security investigation into polysilicon by the Commerce Department.
The presidential proclamation is expected to include minimum import prices on polysilicon, wafers, cells and modules — the solar panels themselves — together with the 15% tariff on polysilicon derivatives, the four sources said. The administration's plan to pursue a hybrid system combining a minimum import price with tariffs was first reported by Reuters earlier this year.
The decision lands at a delicate moment for America's domestic solar manufacturing industry, which expanded on the back of federal incentives the administration has since rolled back. A minimum import price could raise costs for U.S. panel makers that rely on imported material, while shielding the handful of domestic polysilicon plants.
Chinese firms dominate global polysilicon production, and U.S. officials have repeatedly warned that Beijing could use its control of the supply chain — including for chips — as leverage. The Commerce Department and the White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
