Nepal Exempt From Solar Import Tariffs in USA

The United States government has announced a 30% import tariff on solar products. This means that the United States (US) will impose a tax of 30% on solar equipment made abroad.

It has also announced another list of the countries that shall be exempted from the tariff. Nepal is on the exempted list along with India, Turkey, Brazil and many other countries which currently account for a small portion of US Solar imports. These countries are under Generalized System of Preferences (GSP).

However, imports from exempted countries are restricted to 3% of annual US crystalline silicon solar imports per country and 9% for all exempt countries combined. Furthermore, the reference period for those import quantities has not been determined yet.

Why it Matters:

• This means that the crystalline silicon solar products from the countries on GSP are not subject to the new tariff.
• There has been growth in the solar manufacturing market in Nepal, and with Nepal being exempted from the solar tariffs, there is a possibility that solar products can be shipped to the U.S.

Why this is a great opportunity for the GSP countries:

• This can be a great opportunity for the solar manufacturers of the countries on GSP list.
• The collective import to the US of all the countries in the GSP list totals to less than one percent in 2017, which is less than the restriction of 9 percent.
• That means there is a huge opportunity for these countries to export their solar products to the US as they are exempt from the tariff.