The United States has announced its intention to impose tariffs of up to 3,521 percent on solar panels from Southeast Asia.

The tariffs on companies from Cambodia, Thailand, Malaysia and Vietnam will still need to be ratified at a meeting of the International Trade Commission in June.

The decision unveiled on Monday comes after anti-dumping and countervailing duty investigations filed around a year ago by several US and other solar manufacturers. Those companies took aim at "unfair practices" that were said to have weighed on the US domestic solar market, particularly raising concern over Chinese-headquartered companies operating out of the Southeast Asian countries.

Among firms targeted were Chinese companies Jinko Solar and Trina Solar.

Jinko Solar faced duties of 40 percent for exports from Malaysia and around 245 percent for goods from Vietnam.

Trina Solar in Thailand will see duties of more than 375 percent, and more than 200 percent for products from Vietnam.

China has denounced the tariffs announced by US President Donald Trump, calling them protectionist.

Beijing has also said no one wins in a tariff or trade war.

If imposed, the new US levies will come on top of the blanket 10 percent levy imposed by Trump since early April on products entering the United States from most trading partners.

In 2023, the United States imported US$11.9 billion in solar cells from the countries named in the latest action, according to official data. (AFP)