Photo voltaic panel producer Qcells revealed on Friday that it might furlough one-third of its staff at its two crops in Georgia. The 1,000 staff will briefly have decreased pay and dealing hours as a result of elevated detentions by U.S. Customs and Border Safety (CBP) of photo voltaic cells and different upstream panel elements. Qcells may also lay off 300 staff from staffing businesses on the two crops.
Qcells 1.7-GW module manufacturing unit in Dalton, Georgia
The federal authorities has stepped up enforcement of the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA), which restricts Chinese language items made with pressured labor from getting into the USA. CBP started detaining silicon photo voltaic cells made by South Korean-headquartered Qcells earlier this summer time. Qcells has repeatedly said that its merchandise don’t use Chinese language elements. The corporate has an extended historical past of utilizing polysilicon from fellow South Korean firm OCI and part manufacturing in Southeast Asia.
Qcells stated that its shipments are actually being cleared by way of Customs, however a brief discount in working hours within the interim is important. Regardless of Qcells being one of the first domestic manufacturers to begin development on new photo voltaic cell and wafer manufacturing operations, the corporate remains to be solely performing panel meeting in the USA and desires a constant provide of photo voltaic cells to finish panel meeting.
The same CBP detention has been affecting Maxeon, a photo voltaic panel producer with some Chinese language financing however no documented connection to pressured labor taking place in China. Maxeon’s Mexico-assembled panels have been prevented from getting into the nation since summer time 2024, regardless of the corporate offering hundreds of pages of paperwork demonstrating full compliance in UFLPA. Maxeon has resorted to submitting a grievance with the U.S. Court docket of Worldwide Commerce and is awaiting updates amidst the federal government shutdown.
In Maxeon’s case, the once-global firm now solely focuses on the U.S. market. Maxeon offered its European, Asian and Latin American gross sales channels and entities, whereas protecting its Mexican meeting plant and transferring ahead with plans for a 2-GW photo voltaic panel manufacturing unit in New Mexico. With most of its merchandise unable to get into the nation, Maxeon financials have nosedived. The corporate reported $39 million in income for the primary six months of 2025, whereas it reached $371 million for a similar interval in 2024. Plans for the U.S. manufacturing unit have paused.
Marta Stoepker, Qcells senior director of company communications, stated in a press release to native information that the corporate was pressured to cut back manufacturing “whereas our shipments into the U.S. had been delayed within the customs clearance course of.
“Qcells expects to renew full manufacturing within the coming weeks and months. Our dedication to constructing all the photo voltaic provide chain in the USA stays,” she continued. “We’ll quickly be again on observe with the complete drive of our Georgia group delivering American-made power to communities across the nation.”
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