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Plans to install 60 square miles of solar panels in Vermont were abruptly put on hold.

A solar farm to power hundreds of homes in Maine has been partially built but may not be complete.

And a project that will power more than 10,000 homes in Texas is weeks away from breaking ground, but has now been delayed, at least to next year.

Solar companies across the country are delaying projects, scrambling to find materials, closing construction sites and warning that tens of billions of dollars – and tens of thousands of jobs – are at risk.

The turmoil is the result of the Commerce Department’s decision to investigate whether Chinese companies have circumvented US tariffs by transporting solar panel components through four Southeast Asian countries.

While authorities have yet to find any evidence of trade violations, the retroactive tariff threat has effectively halted imports of crystalline silicon panels and components from Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam. These four countries supply 82 percent of the most popular solar modules used in the world. United States of America.

In a matter of weeks, 318 solar projects in the United States have been canceled or delayed, and hundreds of companies are considering layoffs, according to the Solar Energy Industries Association, which recently surveyed more than 700 companies.

Energy experts warn that the fallout is just beginning. The months-long halt to imports from the four countries could have lasting consequences for the multibillion-dollar solar industry and the Biden administration’s ambitious goals to accelerate renewable energy development to combat climate change.

“The industry is essentially frozen,” said Leah Stokes, a climate scientist at the University of California, Santa Barbara. “It is already leading to layoffs to say nothing about its impact on our climate targets.”

The Commerce Department launched its investigation after Auxin Solar, a small California-based solar panel maker, filed a petition on March 25 demanding that it investigate whether China had breached rules to prevent government-backed solar parts from flooding the U.S. market.

Tariffs on Chinese solar panels They have been in effect since 2012, when the Obama administration imposed them in hopes of promoting domestic production and preventing China from dominating the emerging global market. In 2018, President Donald J. Trump imposed additional tariffs on certain solar products from China, and Mr. Biden extended these tariffs in February.

For more than a decade, China has dominated the global supply chain for solar panels. Government policies and subsidies They fed giant factories that manufacture materials like polysilicon and components like solar cells that absorb energy from sunlight and convert it into electricity.

US solar installers purchased most of their panels from four Southeast Asian countries to avoid trade problems. But according to Auxin, most of these panels are made by overseas subsidiaries of Chinese companies and use cells, wafers and other parts originating in China.

So far, the Ministry of Commerce has signaled that these components are not subject to tariffs, as parts from China are largely converted by companies in Southeast Asia.

However, if the Commerce Department determines that panels from Southeast Asia contain Chinese-made parts that should be subject to tariffs, panels sold in the United States may carry high taxes after the investigation begins. And the threat of these additional costs has caused shipments of solar panels to come to a standstill.

In an interview, Auxin’s founder and CEO, Mamun Rashid, said he submitted the petition because he believes current tariffs are being weakened and hopes this investigation will help encourage domestic production.

“Maybe trade laws are violated, cheating is being done,” said Mr. Rashid. “We decided that it would be irresponsible for us not to do anything, not talk.”

Mr. Rashid said he was acting on his own and not working in concert with any other energy company, investor or industry group.

The trade dispute consideration process is a complex system designed to prevent political interference. Commerce Minister Gina Raimondo said this week her department is legally obliged to pursue the matter.

“My hands are very tied here,” he said. at a trial Wednesday on Capitol Hill. “I am required by law to investigate an allegation that companies operating in other countries are attempting to circumvent these obligations, and I am required by law to conduct a thorough investigation.”

A Commerce Department spokesperson said there are “efforts to strengthen supply chains at the heart of the clean energy transition, including the solar supply chain,” and is “committed to holding foreign manufacturers accountable to act by the same rules.” As US manufacturers.”

last year, United States installed roughly 24 gigawatts of new solar capacity, a record supported by the falling cost of panels. However, only one-fifth of these panels were produced domestically, while the rest were imported primarily from Malaysia, Vietnam, Thailand and Cambodia.

As the effects of the federal investigation ripple through the U.S. solar industry, its advocates are outraged.

“It is absurd that a single company’s demand can bring the industry to its knees in this way,” said Abigail Ross Hopper, CEO of the Solar Energy Industries Association. “The US solar market is in chaos. Shipments stopped, facilities stopped and people started being laid off.”

Sudden freeze on solar panel installation clashes with Mr. Biden’s acceleration goal annual rate of solar installations nationwide To meet its commitment to reduce US emissions at least 50 percent below 2005 levels by the end of this decade.

“For an administration that has embraced renewable energy development as one of its core goals, this tariff research has undermined all that,” said Nick Bullinger, chief operating officer of Hecate Energy, a Chicago-based solar company. “The investigation has a disastrous impact on the renewable energy sector and is driving up electricity prices. Every day the tariff review continues, the country lags further and further in achieving our climate targets.”

The outage is hitting companies big and small.

NextEra Energy, one of the nation’s largest renewable energy companies, said it expects two to three gigawatts worth of solar and storage construction, enough to power more than a million homes, will not be completed as planned this year.

“Solar is definitely disrupting our business and industry,” said David Reuter, NextEra’s chief communications officer. Shares in NextEra are down 15 percent in the past three weeks.

At Green Lantern Solar, a Vermont-based custom solar installer, work on projects in Vermont and Maine has come to a standstill.

“The result is crucial, not just for Green Lantern, but for all of our contractors,” said Scott Buckley, president of Green Lantern. “We had to call all of our suppliers and had extremely difficult conversations to say, ‘Thanks but we’re not getting delivery.’”

In total, the Solar Energy Industries Association said its members are predicting a 46 percent reduction in the number of solar panels they will install next year.

But First Solar, another major solar company that produces a type of solar panel that hasn’t been affected by the tariff dispute, said it supports the investigation.

“Our concern is to ensure that there is a level playing field for domestic producers,” said Reuven Proneca, spokesperson for First Solar. “We think the Commerce Department’s decision to continue the investigation is a step in the right direction.”

For US companies looking for solar panels, there are a few easy substitutes for products from Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam.

“We searched every American panel manufacturer we could find, and none of them have panels with any projected timelines that would allow us to move these projects forward.,said Mr. Buckley of Green Lantern Solar.

Some solar industry advocates have suggested that the Commerce Department has the ability to quickly reverse course and quickly end the investigation.

“The secretary’s hands are not tied,” wrote Heather Zichal, CEO of American Clean Power. a blog post. “He has a way, codified in the statute, to halt a senseless process launched on a phantom threat – and he can use these options to reinvigorate an American solar industry whiplashed by his department’s actions in the coming weeks.”

But Ms Raimondo said she has a lot more to do, answering a question from Nevada Democrat Senator Jacky Rosen on Wednesday. “My commitment to you is to act as fast as I can,” she said.

Some analysts have argued that the United States needs to invest much more in domestic production to compete with overseas solar product production. For example, the Build Back Better bill in Congress, will provide new tax credits for home made solar wafers, cells and modules. But that law remains elusive after West Virginia Democrat Senator Joe Manchin III turned out to be in opposition last year.

While the solar industry awaits the Commerce Department’s decision, renewable energy advocates worry that time is running out. The Solar Energy Industries Association estimates that lost or delayed solar use from research will result in 364 million metric tons of additional carbon emissions by 2035, equivalent to keeping 78 million gasoline-powered vehicles on the road.

“It will slow the industry down at a time when we need to move faster,” Ms Stokes said. “This could be catastrophic.”

Brad Plumer contributing reporting.