China “Deeply Concerned” With US’s “Strong Tendency For Trade Protectionism”

By: EW News Desk Team   Date: 5 December 2011

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05 December 2011

The Chinese Commerce Ministry has criticised the US for its “strong tendency for trade protectionism”, after a recent preliminary ruling by the US International Trade Commission voted unanimously to investigate charges of unfair Chinese trade practices in the solar panel industry.

"The ruling was made without sufficient evidence showing U.S. solar panel industry has been harmed and ignored defences from Chinese firms as well as opposition from the U.S. domestic industries and other stakeholders," said the ministry in a statement on its website.

On December 2nd, the US International Trade Commission panel agreed with a petition led by US solar company SolarWorld AG that there was "reasonable indication" of Chinese solar cell and panel imports harming or threatening to harm the US industry. The Commission will now hold a full investigation into the charges, which also called for countervailing and anti-dumping duties on solar cells and panels from China.

"China is deeply concerned with the decision, which does not tally with facts and highlights the United States' strong tendency for trade protectionism,” said the statement, claiming that the US should "objectively analyze why some of its solar panel firms lack competitiveness,” rather than placing the blame on Chinese companies.

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“The United States should avoid abusing trade remedies which will affect bilateral trade and mutually beneficial cooperation between China and U.S. enterprises in the new energy sector,” added the statement.

In 2010, China exported $1.5 billion of solar products to the US, up from $640 million in the previous year. North America was also China’s third-biggest solar export market, following Europe and Asia, accounting for about 11 percent of China’s global solar exports.

US solar companies simply cannot compete with the Chinese products, which have since gone on to control half of the US market; thanks to government-provided loans, cheap land, tax breaks and an undervalued currency, claimed US solar companies in its petition. SolarWorld announced on September 2nd that it was cutting almost 200 jobs at its facility in Camarillo, California.

“There’s a serious concern going forward with the current situation,” said SolarWorld’s president Gordon Brinsen in a December 1st interview with Bloomberg. “SolarWorld is a strong company, but others in the industry are struggling.”

Representatives from Chinese companies though claim that that the tariffs sought by US competitors would make it more difficult to expand the use of renewable energy. With both China and the US among the nations that encourage use of alternative energy sources, penalising China for cheaper alternative energy resources would be unfair.

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“Citing Chinese imports as a key reason for its (the US solar industry) failure would only underscore their incompetence and heighten their embarrassment if the whole industry is disrupted by the steep duties that could be levied,” wrote a China-Voice column in the state-owned Xinhua news agency.

“While censuring Chinese producers benefiting from state subsidies, the U.S. makers applied double standards by selectively ignoring the millions of dollars in tax breaks and public subsidies that published data shows they themselves received…

“Before any grave consequences are incurred, U.S. authorities need to calmly and objectively analyze their domestic industry, and avoid sacrificing the well-being of a bigger group in favor of winning votes for a handful of politicians.”


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