SMA Solar sees small mkt hit from US duties

FRANKFURT, Jan 27 (Reuters): SMA Solar, Germany's largest solar group, expects the global solar market to take a small hit from import tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump earlier this week, it said on Friday.

"SMA's market outlook includes a slightly negative impact from the import tariff," SMA said on slides published during its capital market day, not quantifying the size of the hit.

SMA Solar expects the Americas, which includes the US market, to grow by an average of about 18 per cent per year until 2020, less than the 23 per cent expected for the Europe, Middle East and Africa region.

Trump on Monday approved a 30 per cent tariff on solar cell and module imports, dropping to 15 per cent within four years. Up to 2.5 gigawatts of unassembled solar cells can be imported tariff-free in each year.