A large solar panel maker is furloughing 1,000 workers at two factories in Georgia as it waits for components to clear customs inspections.
Qcells’ move to send workers home comes after the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol stepped up enforcement of the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act over the summer. The Biden-era law seeks to prevent products made by slave labor in western China from entering the United States. The panel maker said its solar cells have been detained by American authorities to ensure compliance with the labor law, slowing manufacturing at its Georgia facilities. The company will also lay off 300 workers from staffing agencies.
The furloughs come at a critical juncture for Qcells. The South Korean company is building one of the United States’ first factories capable of making solar components like ingots, wafers and cells. The factory’s construction in Cartersville, Georgia, comes as President Donald Trump has slashed renewable energy subsidies and imposed sweeping tariffs on a broad range of foreign imports. The facility’s completion has been delayed until next year, forcing Qcells to continue importing cells from Malaysia and South Korea to be used in panels made at its existing Georgia plants.
Qcells officials sought to downplay the furloughs by describing them as a temporary setback in the company’s U.S. expansion. Customs and Border Patrol recently released a large batch of cells and appears to be accelerating the pace of its inspections, said a person who’s familiar with Qcells’ operations and was granted anonymity to talk about internal business discussions.
