On December 11, local time, Washington - The Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) announced that under Section 301, starting from January 1, 2025, the United States will double the tax rate on solar silicon wafers and polysilicon imported from China to 50%, and increase the tax rate on certain tungsten products to 25%.
Specifically, the products subject to additional tariffs are:
HTSUS subheading 8101.94.00: Unwrought tungsten (including bars and rods obtained by simple sintering), the tariff rate is 25%;
HTSUS subheading 8101.99.10: Tungsten strips and rods (other than those obtained by simple sintering), and tungsten profiles, plates, sheets, strips and foils, the tariff rate is 25%;
HTSUS subheading 8101.99.80: Other tungsten products not listed, the tariff rate is 25%;
HTSUS subheading 2804.61.00: Silicon with a weight percentage of not less than 99.99%, the tariff rate is 50%;
HTSUS subheading 3818.00.00: Doped chemical elements (in the form of discs, wafers, etc.) for electronic purposes, and doped chemical compounds for electronic purposes, the tariff rate is 50%.
The announcement stated that the tariff increase was to protect the country's clean technology industry from the impact of cheap foreign supplies. Increased tariffs on polysilicon and wafers would complement near-term investment, encourage diversification away from Chinese sources, and provide China with additional leverage to eliminate the conduct, policies and practices under investigation and reduce the likelihood of being affected by these harmful conduct, policies and practices. While higher tariffs may lead to higher prices initially, they are necessary to allow U.S. domestic producers to compete with China's massive excess capacity, protect near-term investment, and encourage more domestic manufacturing.