Trina Solar said it will start operating a new 6.5 GW solar wafer factory in Vietnam from mid-2023 to exclusively supply the utility, commercial and industrial (C&I) segments in the United States, as well as the US residential solar market.

Image: Trina Solar

Trina Solar‘s US unit has revealed that it will start operating a 6.5 GW silicon wafer factory in Vietnam to exclusively supply its operations in the US utility, C&I, and residential solar markets. The move comes after the US Department of Commerce (DoC) determined in December that solar cell and module imports from Vietnam, Cambodia, Malaysia, and Thailand were circumventing antidumping and countervailing duty (AD/CVD) orders on cell and module imports from China.

The DoC preliminarily found that Trina Solar was attempting to bypass US duties by processing its China-made solar cells and modules in Thailand before importing them to the United States. Its US subsidiary said it expects the wafers, cells, and modules imported from the new factory in Vietnam to “receive an exemption from circumvention.”

“Prior to the DoC preliminary AD/CVD determination in December 2022, Trina worked to expand production locations, arrange business operations, and diversify supply chains to comply with US regulations and minimize tariff impact on its products,” said the manufacturer. “Trina’s ongoing process already includes polysilicon sourced outside of China and manufacturing modules and cells in Southeast Asia. The wafer facility is a further step in Trina’s supply chain diversification.”

Solar cells and modules from Vietnam are also affected by the DoC’s preliminary findings, but companies operating in the Southeast Asian country are “permitted to certify that they not circumventing the AD/CVD orders, in which case the circumvention findings will not apply,” according to the DoC website. The same applies to Cambodia, Malaysia, and Thailand.

Trina Solar's new facility in Vietnam is expected to start operations in the middle of this year.