Anza sees US module quotes up more than 40% ahead of the Section 232 tariff
Serguey Asael Shinder2 min readImported solar modules for delivery after 4 December are being quoted more than 40% higher than before the US Section 232 proclamation of 7 August, according to Anza, a data and analytics platform for solar and storage procurement. In figures reported by pv magazine on 26 September, the median price among suppliers that have repriced rose from $0.27 per watt to $0.38 per watt. Where Anza can compare the same product under the same contract terms, the increase is smaller, about 15%.
The trigger is a 15% tariff on imports of polysilicon and products made from it - ingots, wafers, cells and modules - enforced by the Department of Commerce from 4 December, after a Section 232 investigation concluded that polysilicon imports threaten national security. Anza says that as of 9 September, 55% of the active suppliers on its platform had moved to tariff-inclusive pricing, covering 65% of the modules listed. Its advice to developers is to prioritise stock already in the US, work out which further shipments can clear customs before the deadline, consider blending domestic and imported supply, and check how contracts assign the risk of retroactive tariffs.
What it means
The two numbers tell different stories and both matter. A 40% jump in the median quote reflects which suppliers have repriced and what they are offering, not a like-for-like increase; the 15% on identical products is the cleaner measure of the tariff passing through. Developers budgeting projects for 2027 should plan against the higher figure until the market settles, because the cheaper pre-deadline supply is finite and, in Anza's words, the window is shrinking.
The deadline also creates a familiar pattern: a rush of imports in October and November, congestion at customs, and disputes over who bears the cost when a shipment misses the cut-off by days. The contractual advice is the part most likely to save money - clauses on tariff changes written before this proclamation may not say clearly who pays. On the supply side, the Solar Energy Industries Association counts 75.3 GW of US module manufacturing capacity, enough for current demand, but far less domestic capacity for cells, wafers and polysilicon. Since the tariff applies to polysilicon products all the way up the chain, a domestically assembled module built on imported cells may not escape it.