Indian solar panels face US scrutiny for possible China forced labour links

US Customs and Border Protection has detained nearly $43 million in shipments of electronics equipment from India since October under a 2022 law banning goods made with forced labour, according to agency data, representing a new focus for the trade enforcement agency.

While CBP does not specify what types of electronic equipment it has detained, polysilicon, a raw material in solar panels, is identified as a high-priority sector in the Uyghur Forced labour Prevention Act (UFLPA), and solar panels have historically made up most of the stopped shipments in that category, according to industry sources.

The CBP did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The law bans goods made in China's Xinjiang region where Chinese authorities are reported to have established labour camps for ethnic Uyghur and other Muslim groups.

China denies any abuses.

No Indian electronics shipments were detained under the UFLPA in previous years.

Nearly a third of the detained Indian electronics shipments were denied, according to CBP. By comparison, just 5.4 per cent of shipments from top US solar component suppliers Malaysia, Vietnam and Thailand were denied entry over that period.

The Indian detentions represent a small share of the $3 billion in electronics shipments CBP has stopped at the border under the UFLPA in the last two years.

But they are a setback for Indian producers seeking to cast themselves as an alternative for US solar project developers weary of navigating tariffs and UFLPA enforcement delays on panels made by mainly Chinese companies.

"If the solar cells for Indian panels are coming from China, then there is likely a good reason why detentions of Indian products may be increasing," said Tim Brightbill, a trade attorney with Wiley Rein LLP. "My sense is that Customs and Border Protection did not realize for a while that many Indian solar panels contained Chinese solar cells, and therefore the UFLPA risks were (and are) high."

Imports of solar products from India have soared in recent years, hitting $2.3 billion last year, according to US trade data.

In the second quarter of 2024, India accounted for 11 per cent of US panel imports, more than double its share in the previous quarter, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence.

As recently as 2018, the US was not importing any solar panels from India.

The increased scrutiny of Indian shipments is a reflection of the border agency's recent efforts to broaden UFLPA enforcement beyond just the biggest China-based solar panel makers, which have replaced their Chinese polysilicon suppliers with sources from the United States and Europe in a bid to avoid their shipments being detained, according to a trade attorney.

"Indian module manufacturers found an opportunity to import more at a time when the Chinese manufacturers were being held up because of UFLPA," Richard Mojica, a trade attorney with Miller & Chevalier in Washington said.

Waaree Technologies and Adani Enterprises are the top Indian solar suppliers to the US market.

A spokesperson for Adani confirmed that some of its shipments had been detained and that all had been released.

"This outcome reaffirms that our products imported into the US fully comply with UFLPA regulations, reinforcing customer confidence in the quality, reliability and legal adherence of our products and manufacturing," the spokesperson said.

Waaree did not respond to requests for comment.