Maxeon Solar wants to review the detention of solar panels assembled in Mexico

Maxeon Solar, a California-based company, said it filed a request on Thursday for reexamination with U.S. Customs & Border Protection regarding the continued detention by the federal agency of its solar panels imported from Mexico. The California-based company cited the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act.

The agency didn't immediately respond to an inquiry for comment.

Maxeon shares dropped 13.6% during afternoon trading.

Maxeon began to detain its modules in July. In September, the company retracted its forecast for 2024 due to uncertainty regarding imports into its largest market.

The UFLPA Entity list includes a number of companies that are restricted from importing goods linked to what the U.S. Government has described as a genocide against minorities taking place in western Xinjiang, China.

U.S. officials are convinced that Chinese authorities have set up labor camps for Uyghurs, as well as other Muslim minorities in China's western Xinjiang Region. Beijing denies that there have been any abuses.

Bill Mulligan, Maxeon's incoming CEO, said: "None our supply chains include entities on the UFLPA List, two of our chains don't even enter China and yet, the reviewers declined to make an appropriate determination that UFLPA doesn't apply."

He stated that the company is still hopeful that new reviewers will clear its products for export. (Reporting by Sourasis Bose in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber)

(source: Reuters)