On the face of it, the U.S. Supreme Court’s judgment striking down Donald Trump’s sweeping trade tariffs may have come as a net positive for clean energy, but uncertainty looms large as the White House can still impose duties using other laws.

The U.S. relies on imports for many renewable energy components, such as solar cells and modules, even as domestic manufacturing capacity is rapidly ramping up. In the near term, there is anticipation that, besides solar panels, prices of battery cells and packs, power transformers, and inverters could go down post the Supreme Court’s invalidation of the country-specific reciprocal tariffs issued under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA).

The tariff setback may offer relief to solar exporters such as India and China, but the broader trade environment is likely to remain uncertain as the administration advances its agenda and explores other avenues to impose tariffs.

Despite the setback at the Supreme Court, Trump has ample elbow room to use other tools to impose tariffs, as evidenced by the imposition of a 10% uniform tariff on all imports hours after the Supreme Court’s ruling, which he later raised to 15% under a rarely used trade law. This tariff, however, will remain in force for only 150 days, and any extension will require Congressional approval.

Another law that could come in handy is a provision in the Trade Expansion Act that authorizes the President to impose tariffs on imports deemed to threaten ‘national security,’ a term that can be interpreted broadly. Tariffs under this law will apply to specific products, but more importantly, no rate ceilings will apply.

Then there is Section 301 of the Trade Act, which authorizes the United States Trade Representative (USTR), on the directions of the President, to launch investigations into ‘unfair trade practices’ which can harm U.S. commerce. These investigations, again, can be directed at specific countries, and tariffs resulting from such investigations will not have the same effect as the tariffs imposed under IEEPA. In December 2024, USTR imposed 50% tariffs on Chinese solar wafers and polysilicon and 25% on certain tungsten products under Section 301.

For now, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection has announced it will stop collecting tariffs imposed under IEEPA from February 24.

For countries that have already signed or announced handshake agreements, the Supreme Court judgment presents both risks and opportunities. India, for instance, was to legalize an interim deal announced early this month. The two sides were scheduled to meet this week to finalize the agreement, but that has now been postponed. There is no word on when that would happen.

This opens the door for India to renegotiate the terms to its advantage. The U.S., on its part, said it expects its partners to stick with the deals agreed upon. Speaking on the issue, Trump said there would be no change in the U.S. deal with China, even after the Supreme Court struck down the reciprocal tariffs. “Nothing changes. They’ll (India) be paying tariffs, and we will not be paying tariffs,” he said.

Indian solar exporters were upbeat after Trump brought down tariffs from 25% to 18%. They may have reason for further cheer now, even as policy uncertainty continues to cloud the outlook.

“The only certainty right now is continued tariff uncertainty. Manufacturers should not plan long-term export strategies based solely on the Supreme Court ruling. There is no guarantee the U.S. will not reimpose tariffs in another form at any time. This still has a long way to play out before we have clarity on where the final tariffs will land and at what rates,” said Raj Prabhu, CEO of Mercom Capital Group.