Toyo denies Ethiopia duty evasion, confirms 4 GW ramp and US cell plant

<p class="p1"><span class="s1">Toyo Co. says a new anti-circumvention petition targeting its Ethiopian solar cell facility is "riddled with misinformation." The Japanese manufacturer tells <b>pv magazine</b> that the site reached 4 GW of capacity last year and that it is planning a U.S. onshore cell plant.</span></p><div>
<p>Toyo Co. is pushing back on allegations that it is circumventing US solar duties via Ethiopia, with Chief Strategy Officer Rhone Resch calling a newly filed petition misleading and inaccurate.</p>
<p>Resch said a <a href="https://www.pv-magazine.com/2026/05/14/us-solar-makers-accuse-toyo-and-origin-solar-of-ethiopia-duty-evasion/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">petition filed earlier this month</a> by the Alliance for American Solar Manufacturing and Trade (AASMT) against Toyo Solar Manufacturing's Ethiopian operations &#8220;fundamentally mischaracterizes our operations and business model and is riddled with misinformation.&#8221; He added that the company plans to &#8220;vigorously clarify these facts through the appropriate official channels.&#8221;</p>
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<p class="font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]">The AASMT petition was filed by eight US solar manufacturers – DYCM Power, First Solar, Great Lakes Solex PR, Hanwha Q CELLS USA, Silfab Solar, Suniva, Swift Solar, and Talon PV – and alleges that Toyo and Origin Solar Manufacturing are completing Chinese-origin wafers into solar cells in Ethiopia before exporting finished products to the United States to circumvent existing antidumping and countervailing duty orders. AASMT did not immediately respond to a request for further comment. Origin Solar Manufacturing did not respond to a request for comment.</p>
<p class="font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]">Resch said Toyo is a &#8220;fully Foreign Entity of Concern (FEOC)-compliant partner&#8221; and that all solar cells manufactured in Ethiopia use polysilicon supplied exclusively from the United States and Malaysia, with wafers processed in non-China countries. He said the sourcing arrangements mean Toyo's Ethiopia-to-US supply route complies with existing trade rules.</p>
<p class="font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]">Toyo's Ethiopia facility reached its full 4 GW nameplate capacity in October 2025 and is currently operating at full utilization with a fully allocated order book, Resch told <strong>pv magazine</strong>. The company is guiding 2026 solar cell deliveries of 5.5 GW to 5.8 GW and expects adjusted net income of $90 million to $100 million, according to Resch.</p>
<p class="font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]">In fiscal 2025, Toyo shipped approximately 4.5 GW of solar cells and reported revenue of $427 million, a 142% year-on-year increase, according to preliminary results published in March 2026.</p>
<p class="font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]">Toyo's first-quarter 2026 results, released this week, showed revenue of $142.8 million, up 177% year over year, with gross margin expanding to 33.5% from 9.3% in the same period of 2025. Net income reached $28.4 million, compared with a net loss of $3.7 million a year earlier.</p>
<p class="font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]">Toyo's module facility in Houston, Texas, entered commercial production with its first 1 GW of capacity in late 2025 and is now on track to complete a second 1 GW expansion by September 2026, Resch said, bringing total US module capacity to 2 GW. The facility qualifies for Section 45X manufacturing tax credits of up to $0.07/W through 2030, according to the company's October 2025 commercial operations announcement.</p>
<p class="font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]">Resch also said Toyo is now in the final planning stages for a new US onshore cell plant that would give utility-scale customers the option of full domestic content. &#8220;Currently, there is a very substantial gap between the demand for high-efficiency, n-type cells and supply in the US,&#8221; said Resch.</p>
<p>The US Department of Commerce has 30 days from receipt of the AASMT petition to initiate a formal anti-circumvention inquiry.</p>
<p class="font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]"><em><strong>Editor's note</strong>: This story was updated on May 19, 2026, to include first-quarter 2026 financial results released by Toyo on May 18, 2026.</em></p>