PVTIME – According to official US customs import statistics, photovoltaic cell shipments to the country totalled 3,779MW in the first three months of 2026, which was a 16% decrease compared to the 4,476MW recorded in the same period in 2025.
Such imports grew consistently from early 2024 to mid-2025, reaching a peak of 3,523MW in June of that year, before declining. Import volumes decreased in the second half of 2025, rising notably to 2,910MW in November before declining to 904MW in December. Mild volume recovery occurred in the first quarter of 2026. Current import volumes remain well below the record levels set in 2025, yet are almost double those seen in the first quarter of 2024, proving that overall market demand remains strong.
There have been noticeable changes in the composition of supplying regions. South Korea and Thailand maintained stable delivery capacities and secured the top two positions, accounting for 54.5% of total imports in Q1 2026. Meanwhile, supply volumes from Indonesia and Malaysia have decreased significantly. Indonesia, which ranked as the largest supplier with an annual supply volume of 6,450MW in 2025, slipped to third place in Q1 2026 due to a significant decrease in supply. Meanwhile, nations outside traditional supply chains, including Ethiopia and the Philippines, have achieved significant import growth in 2026. This demonstrates that local enterprises are actively diversifying their supply channels in order to bypass existing trade barriers. The market supply structure has also become more fragmented, with the top five source countries accounting for 96% of total annual imports in 2025, compared to 85% in Q1 2026.
Local solar module producers in the United States have recently submitted a new application for an investigation into the circumvention of tariffs on photovoltaic goods exported from Ethiopia. According to relevant submissions, certain manufacturers are using production bases in Ethiopia to assemble products fitted with components originating from China, in an attempt to evade the anti-dumping and countervailing duty measures currently in place for solar-related commodities.
Scan the QR code to follow PVTIME official account on Wechat for latest news on PV+ES
