U.S. Plans Tariffs on Chinese Solar Panels March 20, 2012, 5:16 pm In a move that seems likely to increase trade tensions, the Commerce Department plans to impose tariffs on solar panel imports from China, Keith Bradsher and Matthew L. Wald report. The tariffs are relatively small - 2.9 percent to 4.73 percent - but additional ones could be imposed in May, when the Commerce Department is to decide whether China is dumping panels in the United States. The department has already ruled that the Chinese government is providing illegal export subsidies to its solar manufacturers.