Shares of South Korean solar power companies Hanwha Solutions and OCI Holdings rose more than 8% on Wednesday as U.S. restrictions on Chinese solar products became a focus ahead of the summit between President Trump and President Xi.
The two leaders are scheduled to meet in Washington this week, and trade is expected to be one of the main topics of discussion.
Hana Securities argued that the U.S. government is increasingly viewing solar power as a strategic industry related to national security, and said it is highly unlikely that the U.S. would ease regulations on Chinese solar products as part of the talks.
“If the U.S. eases restrictions on Chinese-made solar products at the U.S.-China summit, it would effectively mean retreating from efforts to build domestic supply chains for strategic national security assets,” analyst Yoon Jae-sung said in a note Wednesday.
He cited Hanwha Solutions and OCI Holdings as the top candidates in the sector, saying the U.S.-China summit is unlikely to have an unfavorable outcome.
Yun noted that President Trump signed Section 232 measures on polysilicon and its derivatives in August on national security grounds, adding that the tariff reductions discussed at the meeting are expected to focus on non-strategic goods.
He added that solar power has become a strategic asset across AI and semiconductor power needs, semiconductor supply chains, defense and space, making efforts to reduce dependence on Chinese supplies increasingly important for the US government.
Wednesday’s stock action came hours after Hanwha Solutions’ solar power unit Qcells welcomed action by the U.S. Department of Commerce and U.S. Customs and Border Protection to curb so-called “illegal stockpiling” of imported solar panels as the Trump administration moves to impose Section 232 tariffs on polysilicon and its derivatives.
Qcells said the measure will help deter importers from circumventing U.S. trade policies and support domestic solar power manufacturing.
“Flooding the U.S. market with large quantities of imported products is a strategy foreign companies have used for years to undermine U.S. manufacturers,” Qcells Global CEO Andy Park said in a statement.
Qcells, which bills itself as the largest silicon-based solar power manufacturer in the United States, is investing $2.5 billion to expand its solar cell manufacturing operations in Georgia, where it produces solar cells and panels.
OCI Holdings also has a large presence in the United States through its subsidiary OCI Energy, which broke ground on a new solar power facility in Texas earlier this month.
