Aerial panoramic photo taken on April 21, 2022 shows the Dalad Photovoltaic Power Base in Dalad Banner, north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. Dalad Photovoltaic Power Base, composed of nearly 200,000 photovoltaic panels, promotes ecological management of the desert while utilizing rich solar energy resources in Kubuqi Desert. (Photo: Xinhua)

China's photovoltaic (PV) sector may have greater opportunities in the US market, after the Biden administration will reportedly declare a 24-month tariff exemption for solar panels from four Southeast Asian nations, Chinese industry sources and experts said on Monday.

Reuters reported on Monday that sources familiar with the White House's plans said US President Joe Biden will eliminate tariffs on solar modules from Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam for two years.

Although China is not included, "the move may promote exports by Chinese PV enterprises to the US, as they will not need to pay potential tariffs caused by an investigation into Chinese solar module makers for alleged tariff circumvention," an industry source told the Global Times on Monday.

Moreover, they will not pay duties when exporting PV modules produced in Southeast Asian countries during the next two years, if the US' decision is implemented, the source added.

Boosted by the Reuters report, as well as the Chinese central government's requirement to promote the construction of large wind turbines and solar energy bases, China's PV-related stocks rose by 2.72 percent on Monday, with 14 stocks surging more than 10 percent.

Experts said that the US must now pay for its so-called investigation into Chinese solar panel manufacturers, which has reportedly halted the flow of solar panels that make up more than half of US supplies and 80 percent of its imports.

US Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said in a recent interview with US media outlet The Hill that she was deeply concerned with the impact of the US' punitive trade tariffs on the country's renewable energy goals, with a number of officials worrying about its harm to US solar businesses and employees.

"The Biden administration may make this decision amid concerns from all sides, including state governors, industry officials as well as environmentalists, as the suspension of imports may affect the US' target of lowering its greenhouse gas emissions by 50 percent to 52 percent by 2030, compared with 2005 levels," Lin Boqiang, director of the China Center for Energy Economics Research at Xiamen University, told the Global Times on Monday.

According to Reuters, Biden will also invoke the Defense Production Act to drive US manufacturing of solar panels and other clean energy technologies.

"This reflects the US' urgency to increase its domestic manufacturing capacity and its independence for solar panels," the source said, noting that during the two years, the US will undertake large-scale financing, while increasing R&D and production to ensure the competitiveness of its PV products.

"During the two-year rapid deployment period of its solar manufacturing, the US, aiming to bridge its quantitative gap, is expected to import more modules from other countries, including China, which has become the world's largest producer and exporter of PV products with high quality and low cost," Lin noted.