The US is preparing to hit back at China’s glut of cheap solar panels by targeting its allies [Video]

The world is awash in solar panels after Chinese-owned firms flooded the market with cheap exports.

Now, seven US solar companies are fighting back against what they say is a dire threat to America’s efforts to build up a manufacturing sector of its own.

Companies including Qcells, First Solar, and Swift Solar on Wednesday asked the Biden administration to slap tariffs on solar cells from four countries in Southeast Asia. The US solar companies allege that Chinese-owned firms operating in Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam are illegally undercutting the market.

The request follows an unprecedented wave of imports from the region last year. Those four countries combined accounted for about 80% of US solar panel imports during the second half of 2023, according to S&P data. There is now an 18-month supply of solar panels sitting in warehouses, and prices have been cut in half in the past year to as low as …