Four Chinese wafer makers added to UFLPA ban – ‘quite impactful’ to U.S. solar market

department of homeland security (2)

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security added four upstream solar module component suppliers in China (ingot and wafer makers) to the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) Entity List for procuring and utilizing polysilicon from Xinjiang. The companies are:

  • Donghai JA Solar
  • Hongyuan Green Energy and subsidiary Hongyuan New Materials
  • Jiangsu Meike
  • Shuangliang Silicon

Being added to the UFLPA Entity List means that ingot and wafers from these companies cannot be imported by U.S. solar cell manufacturers, and cells and modules made overseas using these wafers are also banned from import into the United States.

To be clear, the DHS announcement states that the entities added manufacture inputs for solar modules “with polysilicon made in Xinjiang.” The announcement does not allege that these companies have any of their own facilities in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR), nor does it make allegations that these companies have forced labor in any of their facilities.

Impact on U.S. solar module market

Christian Roselund, senior analyst for Clean Energy Associates, confirmed on LinkedIn that the list includes companies that “supply cell makers that serve the U.S. market.”

“We’ve been warning our clients for some time that this could happen,” he wrote. “This follows months of Entity List additions against textile, clothing and food companies in non-XJ Chinese provinces that likewise did not include allegations of forced labor in their facilities, but instead allegations that they are buying, selling, transporting, and/or processing food and textile products within inputs from Xinjiang.”

Aaron Hall, president of Anza, a U.S. solar module marketplace that covers roughly 98% of the market, tells us that the addition of a JA subsidiary to the UFLPA Entity List is in fact “quite impactful” because …

“… Customs is now adding entities to the list that have any connection to Xinjiang region, regardless of whether or not any raw materials are included in their products that are exported to the US market.  Most wafer capacity is still located in China and there are some very large wafer manufacturers that support both domestic and international markets.  It is likely that several of these wafer manufacturers have been sourcing raw materials from Xinjiang for their domestic market orders. No longer can a company simply have a bifurcated supply chain; provided a part of that supply chain still touches Xinjiang.”

To get off the UFLPA Entity List, a company has to show all ties have been severed with Xinjiang, which can be difficult given the China Anti Sanctions law in place. 

“We have already seen evidence of Chinese government action in response to similar activity.  Some of the wafer manufacturers added to the list, while not among the largest, they do produce over 10 GW annually.  It will all of a sudden be much more important to pay attention to where the wafer is produced as it can be from one of the companies added to the Entity List or one that can be added at any time.

It is very possible that the largest wafer manufacturers in China have some exposure to Xinjiang.  Regarding the JA subsidiary specifically, it is possible that it was no longer part of the JA supply chain and that this will not impact JA’s operations; it is worthy to note that JA has material wafer capacity outside of China already.”

What is ULFPA?

The Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) was passed to protect what the government sees as human rights abuses against Uyghurs and other religious and ethnic minority groups in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR). For a deeper dive into the UFLPA and its enforcement, be sure to read “Consider the Source” in our archives.

These four solar suppliers were included among 37 additions made today — the largest single expansion of the UFLPA Entity List to date, which now sits at 144, three years since the law was passed. DHS will publish the revised UFLPA Entity List as an appendix to a Federal Register notice.

Effective Jan. 15, 2025, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) will apply a rebuttable presumption that goods produced by the named 37 entities will be prohibited from entering the United States.

“This latest addition reflects the growing sophistication and maturity of the [Forced Labor Enforcement Task Force]’s work and enhances CBP’s enforcement capabilities to protect U.S. markets,” the DHS release stated.

Customs began enforcing the UFLPA in June 2022.  Since then, CBP has reviewed more than 11,300 shipments valued at more than $3.67 billion under the UFLPA.   

Solar companies added to UFLPA Entity List

Here are the companies in the solar supply chain now added to the UFLPA Entity List, as described in the DHS announcement. For each, the DHS stated: “The United States Government has reasonable cause to believe, based on specific and articulable information,” that these companies “source polysilicon from the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region.”

Donghai JA Solar Technology Co., Ltd. | Located in Jiangsu Province, China, Donghai JA Solar focuses on the research and development of solar energy products and the production of silicon rods, wafers, ingots, and solar cell modules. Donghai JA Solar also imports and exports various commodities and technologies.

Hongyuan Green Energy Co., Ltd. (also known as HY Solar; and Hoyuan Green Energy Co. Ltd., and formerly known as Wuxi Shangji CNC Co., Ltd.; Wuxi Shangji Automation Co., Ltd.; and Wuxi Shangji Grinding Machine Co., Ltd.) and Hongyuan New Materials (Baotou) Co., Ltd. | Hongyuan Green Energy is a vertically integrated green energy manufacturing company located in Jiangsu Province, China, with several major business segments that include high-end equipment manufacturing, new energy power stations, and the production of industrial and crystalline silicon, silicon wafers, batteries, and modules. Hongyuan New Materials is a subsidiary of Hongyuan Green Energy, located in Baotou City, in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region of China, which produces photovoltaic monocrystalline silicon.

Jiangsu Meike Solar Technology Co., Ltd. and Baotou Meike Silicon Energy Co., Ltd. | Jiangsu Meike, located in Jiangsu Province, China, manufactures silicon rods and wafers. Baotou Meike Silicon Energy Co., Ltd. is a subsidiary of Jiangsu Meike located in Baotou City in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region of China, that manufactures silicon rods and wafers.

Shuangliang Silicon Materials (Batou) Co., Ltd. | Shuangliang Silicon Materials (Batou) Co., Ltd. (“Shuangliang Silicon”) is a company located in Batou City, in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region of China, that researches, develops, processes, manufactures and sells single crystal silicon rods and wafers.

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