SunPower spin-off solar PV manufacturer Maxeon Solar Technologies says it is establishing alternative manufacturing and supply chains amid US President Donald Trump’s tariff onslaught across the board.
The US has imposed an ad valorem duty of 10% baseline on all imports from all of its trading partners and higher duties on several other countries. Maxeon says the new tariffs and trade barriers are applicable to its legacy cell and module manufacturing facilities; hence, the decision to establish alternative manufacturing facilities and supply chains.
Meanwhile, the company’s dispute continues with the US Customs & Border Protection (CBP) regarding the detention of its Mexico-manufactured Maxeon 3, Maxeon 6 and Performance 6 solar modules (see Maxeon Withdraws FY 2024 Guidance After Gross Loss In Q2).
Now, Maxeon says it is considering its right to protest CBP’s decision at the US Court of International Trade to demonstrate that its legacy supply chains are fully compliant with the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA).
“While CBP's decision implies that future imports of the same products with identical supply chain traceability documentation would likely be denied entry, CBP's decision does not prevent Maxeon from making future imports of the same or different solar products with modified supply chain traceability documentation, as each shipment is evaluated independently,” stated the manufacturer.
Maxeon announced a strategic decision last year to focus exclusively on the US market and sell the non-US business to China’s TCL Group. The latter recently launched TCL SunPower Global to cater to the EMEA region with SunPower-branded solar solutions (see China Solar PV News Snippets: DAS Solar Joins SSI & More).
Maxeon says it will continue to focus on its solar manufacturing facility in Albuquerque, New Mexico, which is expected to come online in early 2026, and seek additional domestic component vendors (see Maxeon Announces 2 GW US Solar Module Manufacturing Plant).
“While the Company still faces near-term headwinds, we are making progress in strengthening our supply chain versatility and resilience, streamlining operations, increasing efficiency, and reducing cost. We are confident in the future of solar energy and in Maxeon's ability to best meet the needs of our growing U.S. partner and IPP network,” said Maxeon CEO George Guo.
