A Commerce Department rule in force since 22 September lets the government stop an importer from entering polysilicon, ingots, wafers, solar cells and modules until 4 December. The Federal Register text is effective through 3 December, the day before the Section 232 minimum import prices and duty of Proclamation 11052 start. The polysilicon stockpiling rule is applied to the importer of record (IOR), so the identity and entry history of the name on the customs filing determine whether a container of panels can clear.
The rule came without notice and comment. Commerce says trade data from the week after the proclamation was published showed “dramatic increases” in imports from some IORs, and that a 30-day delay would have let importers keep stockpiling.
Established importers face a test with no published threshold
Commerce tells CBP in writing which importers are bringing in volumes “substantially greater than their historic averages”. CBP then notifies the importer and its customs brokers, and from that point the importer cannot make further entries of covered goods before 4 December. Commerce decides case by case on factors that include, but are not limited to, the volume entered since 6 August against the importer’s weekly averages for early 2026 and for 2025, and the use of new IORs or of affiliates that do not customarily import these goods. The text names no number. A prohibition comes with no advance notice and no chance to respond, wrote the law firm Stoel Rives on 8 October, and entries already made since 6 August count against the importer. An importer buying at its historic pace carries the least exposure, the firm concluded, but without a threshold nobody can be sure where Commerce will draw the line. Flexport’s update of 15 October reports that Wiley attorney Timothy Brightbill says the companies already locked out number in the dozens.
New importers get a weekly ceiling
A company registered with CBP as an importer on or after 6 August has no history to measure against, so the rule gives it a fixed ceiling per week and per product line: 12 kg of polysilicon, 7 kg of ingots and wafers, 2,000 cells or 55 modules. Stoel Rives puts 55 modules at roughly 30 to 40 kilowatts at typical utility-scale ratings. Commerce can approve more, but an importer that goes over in any single week cannot enter these goods again until 4 December.
Brokers carry part of the risk. Those who enter these goods or act as IOR between 22 September and 4 December are reminded to avoid facilitating violations of the new-importer limits, and enforcement could include proceedings to revoke or suspend the broker’s license. Setting up several importers of record to get around the limits is a named target.
Barred goods can wait under bond
CBP told the trade in CSMS 69994928 of 22 September that an importer under the prohibition may move the goods to a bonded warehouse but may not enter them for consumption before 4 December. Proclamation 11052 applies its duty and price floor to goods entered, or withdrawn from a warehouse, for consumption on or after 12:01 a.m. Eastern on 4 December, so goods held under bond come out subject to the new duty and price floor. What it costs then depends on origin. Ingots, wafers, cells and modules generally take the additional 15% ad valorem duty; the UK rate is 10%, and for EU, Japanese, Korean, Taiwanese, Swiss and Liechtenstein goods the Section 232 duty and the normal rate together equal 15%. The proclamation also sets minimum import prices of $0.38 per watt for modules and $0.22 per watt for cells, with separate per-kilogram floors for polysilicon, ingots and wafers.
At entry, Proclamation 11052 lets the importer certify that the first arm’s-length sale in the United States will be at or above the applicable minimum import price, or that it falls under a fixed-term contract signed before 6 August 2026. Without that documentation the goods carry a specific tariff equal to the minimum import price. With it, an entered value below the minimum draws a tariff for the difference.
Stoel Rives notes that CBP’s guidance does not address foreign-trade zones or goods in transit.
Only the importer can ask for a waiver
Waiver requests go by email to [email protected], and Commerce says it intends to answer within 14 days of receiving one. The application asks for beneficial ownership, the business reason for the import volumes, a commitment not to stockpile, and a certification from a senior officer under penalty of perjury.
Under the current text of the polysilicon stockpiling rule only importers may apply, Stoel Rives points out, so a developer that buys delivered duty paid from a supplier acting as IOR cannot seek relief in its own name, and the outcome rests on the supplier’s import history.
For a delivery due ahead of 4 December, Stoel Rives advises confirming the IOR’s position now. The practical questions for the supplier or forwarder are the IOR’s name, its CBP registration date and its entries since 6 August. Once the shipment sails, container tracking shows whether it can reach a US port before 4 December, and shipment visibility covers the boxes that have to wait under bond.