EU To Propose Punitive Duties on Chinese Solar Panels
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European Union Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht is expected to recommend punitive duties of between 40 to 60 percent for Chinese solar panel manufacturers after investigations reveal that they benefitted from illegal government subsidies and then sold their products below cost in the EU, according to sources close to the matter.
European Union Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht is expected to recommend punitive duties of between 40 to 60 percent for Chinese solar panel manufacturers after investigations reveal that they benefitted from illegal government subsidies and then sold their products below cost in the EU, according to sources close to the matter.
Investigations into the alleged dumping began in September after the Commission took up a trade complaint by a group of mainly German and Italian solar companies, who had accused China of providing its local manufacturers with easy credit to push output to more than 20 times the level of Chinese consumption.
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China, which had barely any solar production capacity a decade ago, exported more than 21 billion euros ($28 billion) in panels to the European Union in 2011.
However, Europe’s solar industry is not unified around blocking Chinese panels, which can be half the price of their European counterparts.
Soventix, a German solar installer, said a hypothetical 60 percent tariff on Chinese panels would eliminate some 242,000 jobs over three years.
“If prices are artificially increased by punitive tariffs, the European solar market would simply come to a standstill, with disastrous effects on green jobs,” said Wouter Vermeersch, chief executive of Belgium’s Cleantec Trade.
The solar dispute has been a focal point of worsening EU-China trade relations over the past year, with the two sides bickering over everything from raw materials and steel to ceramic kitchenware.
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Some analysts say De Gucht is trying to pressure Beijing to dismantle what he believes is a system of illegal government subsidies. In addition to the solar case, he has tried to tighten the screws on China by threatening to open a separate inquiry into Chinese manufacturers of network telecommunications equipment.
“De Gucht is ready to go ahead,” said an EU source close to the decision-making. “The Commission has a very solid case.”
China, which supplies 80 per cent of Europe’s solar panels, has already opened its own anti-dumping investigations into European manufacturers and has threatened to retaliate with tariffs on European wine if the levy comes into effect.
The levies, which are likely to be approved by EU officials, could come into effect as early as June 6 and could be imposed for up to five years.
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Separately, the United States has already levied tariffs of 31 percent or more on certain Chinese solar imports.
