June 22 (Reuters) - Three solar panel makers asked U.S. trade officials to investigate cell imports from South Korea, saying producers including Hanwha's Qcells are using them to evade longstanding U.S. tariffs on Chinese products, according to a petition seen by Reuters.
The petition was filed with the Department of Commerce on June 18 on behalf of Canadian Solar, SEG and Heliene, which all operate solar panel factories in the United States.
The group, calling itself American Manufacturers for Energy
Resilience, is seeking an anti-circumvention probe into solar cell imports from South Korea. Cells are the building blocks of modules, or panels, that convert sunlight into electricity.
Under U.S. trade law, tariffs can be extended to goods routed through third countries when processing there is minor.
In the petition, the group accuses Qcells of shifting production to Korea from China to avoid U.S. tariffs.
An attorney for the group did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Qcells has two solar factories in the U.S. state of Georgia and has a goal to manufacture all the key components that go into a silicon-based solar panel on U.S. soil.
Qcells, which has invested billions into its U.S. manufacturing operations, has been a driving force behind recent U.S. trade petitions targeting solar imports from countries in Southeast Asia. Some of those imports supplied factories owned by Canadian Solar, SEG and Heliene.
"Qcells has led the effort to reshore solar manufacturing in the United States, and we have a decade-long record of supporting strong trade enforcement, not evading it," Qcells spokesperson Marta Stoepker said in an emailed statement. "We've reviewed this filing and are confident the evidence will show its claims are without merit."
(Reporting by Nichola Groom in Los Angeles; Editing by Bill Berkrot)
