Trump Imposes Minimum Import Prices and New Duties on Polysilicon and Solar Products

President Donald Trump on Thursday invoked national-security trade powers to impose minimum import prices on polysilicon and key solar products, add new duties on many downstream imports, and launch an onshoring incentive program, in a sweeping new Section 232 action that will take effect Dec. 4. The Aug. 6 proclamation, titled “Adjusting Imports of Polysilicon and its Derivatives into the United States,” cites Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, Section 604 of the Trade Act of 1974 and 3 U.S.C. 301.

Under the order, the minimum import prices will be $21 per kilogram for polysilicon, $100 per kilogram for polysilicon ingots and wafers, $0.22 per watt for solar cells and $0.38 per watt for solar modules. Annex I states: “The applicable minimum import prices for imported polysilicon and polysilicon derivatives shall be: (i) $21 per kilogram for polysilicon; (ii) $100 per kilogram for polysilicon ingots and wafers; (iii) $0.22 per watt for solar cells; and (iv) $0.38 per watt for solar modules.” Trump also ordered an additional 15% ad valorem duty on polysilicon derivatives, including ingots and wafers, solar cells and solar modules. For imports from European Union member states, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Switzerland and Liechtenstein, Annex II structures the new Section 232 tariff so that, with the ordinary duty, the total comes to 15%. For the United Kingdom, the additional Section 232 duty is 10% where applicable.

The administration said it was acting after the Commerce Department, which investigates whether imports threaten national security under Section 232, sent Trump a report within the prior 90 days concluding that polysilicon and its derivatives were being imported “in quantities and under circumstances” that threaten to impair U.S. national security. The proclamation says, “Polysilicon is the base material underpinning the security of America’s semiconductor and solar-power supply chains.” Polysilicon is used to make silicon wafers that feed into solar cells and modules, and certain grades are also important for semiconductor wafers. According to the Commerce report summary in the proclamation, global polysilicon production has grown more than 270% since 2020, inventories reached a record 400,000 tons by the end of 2024, and the U.S. share of global polysilicon production capacity fell from 50% in 2005 to less than 2% in 2024.

The measures apply to entries for consumption, or withdrawals from warehouse for consumption, beginning at 12:01 a.m. Eastern on Dec. 4. U.S. Customs and Border Protection was directed to administer the program at the border, and importers may submit documentation certifying either that the first arm’s-length U.S. sale will be at or above the relevant minimum import price or that the sale is covered by a fixed-term contract entered before Trump signed the proclamation. The order gives CBP unusually strong enforcement tools: If the agency finds an importer’s documentation was materially inaccurate or that the importer materially failed to comply, the importer and its affiliates may be permanently barred from importing polysilicon and its derivatives into the United States, in addition to other lawful penalties. Trump also directed Commerce to monitor for stockpiling ahead of the effective date and coordinate with CBP to restrict imports by companies and affiliates if stockpiling is detected.

The proclamation also authorizes Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick to create an onshoring incentive program that can solicit domestic production plans and approve company-specific tariff offsets or other incentives. To qualify, approved plans must begin construction by Jan. 20, 2029, and benefits can be rescinded for material noncompliance. The order further allows the commerce secretary, in consultation with the U.S. trade representative, to change how the minimum prices and tariffs apply to trading partners that adopt “substantially equivalent” import-adjusting measures.

Section 232 is the U.S. law that allows Commerce to investigate whether imports threaten national security and gives the president authority to act after receiving the department’s findings. Trump has previously used it for steel and aluminum and earlier this year for semiconductors. The new proclamation says it will replace “a similar but narrower safeguard tariff on solar cells and modules” from Trump’s first term that expired in February 2026, extending the reach of trade restrictions from upstream polysilicon through solar cells and modules.