No Crystal Ball, But a Clear Baseline

The published Section 232 rates are set. Here's how to navigate them — and what's actually standing behind the answer.

We don't have a crystal ball on the full market and cost impact of Section 232. But the measures published on August 6 give real signal on where exposure sits — a 15% tariff plus minimum import prices on covered polysilicon derivatives, effective December 4, 2026. If you've been tracking this, the numbers aren't new. What's changed is the question we're hearing — not "what are the rates," but "what does this actually mean for my project.

What actually helps right now

A few things are worth doing before December 4, regardless of who you're sourcing from:

• Map your bill of materials to actual origin, stage by stage — not just the final assembly location. Exposure lives at the cell and upstream stages as much as at the module.

  
  

• Know which side of the floor you're on. A domestically assembled module built with imported cells isn't automatically outside the cost pressure — the imported inputs are still affected upstream.

  
  

• Plan explicitly for orders that span the effective date. Sourced before December 4, delivered after — that transition needs a specific answer, not an assumption.

  
  

• Build in sourcing flexibility rather than betting on one geography. The floor applies broadly enough that diversification is now a cost-management decision, not just a resilience one.

None of this requires guessing at where the market lands. It requires knowing your own configuration cold.

From a policy to a bill of materials

This is exactly the gap DomesticIQ was built to close. Feed it a project's real configuration and it diagnoses the domestic-content position stage by stage — where components actually come from, not a supplier's summary claim. Pair it with Domestic Choice and the same session lets you adjust sourcing and see the picture shift in response.. Two modules that look identical on a spec sheet can carry very different origin profiles once you trace them back — a spec sheet won't show you which one you're holding. DomesticIQ will.

The manufacturing capability behind the answer

Tomball-I is producing 8,000+ modules a day, supported by bill-of-materials-level documentation. But manufacturing capability is also about what stands behind the assembly line. Our U.S.-based cell supply relationships and exclusive global partnerships give us multiple sourcing paths to evaluate as costs and trade conditions change.Those upstream relationships matter. Rather than treating every supplier price change as a fixed input, they give us more options to work through sourcing, timing, and cost trade-offs alongside our customers. That does not eliminate tariff exposure or guarantee unchanged pricing. It gives us a stronger foundation for navigating the uncertainty together and finding a supply approach that fits each project.

Certainty Isn't the Point

We don't have every answer yet — nobody navigating this in real time does. What we do have is a genuine willingness to work through it with you, and tools we've already built specifically for this moment: DomesticIQ to model your actual configuration, Domestic Choice to reconfigure sourcing on the spot, and a team ready to look at alternative supply paths together if that's what your project needs. This isn't us pointing you to a calculator and walking away — it's a conversation, backed by tools that make the conversation concrete instead of theoretical.

What's next

If your project timeline crosses into 2027, don’t wait for a revised quote to find out where you stand. Reply to this email and we’ll work through your specific configuration and options together. Prefer to connect in person? Join us at PV CellTech, where we’re proud to be a sponsor, or visit us at RE+ 2026 (Booth N974, Nov. 16–19). At RE+, DomesticIQ will be running live at our booth for a hands-on walkthrough of your sourcing options

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