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Solar panels at a 2-MW array in New Mexico.Source: Associated Press Executives at China-based JinkoSolar Holding Co. Ltd. indicated March 22 that the manufacturer is moving ahead with plans to assemble solar panels at a plant in Jacksonville, Fla., regardless of whether it is exempt from new tariffs on imported solar cells.
The company on March 16 told the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative that its ability "to create and expand panel production in the United States ... will be limited without the ability to import the subject cells free from the tariff." However, JinkoSolar executives on a March 22 earnings call downplayed the importance of an exclusion. While the company is "in the process" of seeking an exemption, "we don't anticipate any impact or change on our plans," CFO Haiyun Cao said.
"The enactment of ... tariffs for [crystalline silicon] solar cells and modules left a lot of details to iron out, but it won't disrupt our plan to invest in a production facility in the U.S.," JinkoSolar CEO Kangping Chen said through a translator. The plant, which will give JinkoSolar "a first-mover advantage and more flexibility to support our local partners," will begin shipping panels in the second half of 2018, he said.
A JinkoSolar representative did not immediately respond to a request for comment March 22.
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