Brussels, 25/07/2012 (Agence Europe) - After winning its case in the United States, where its US subsidiary, leading a coalition of solar panel producers, convinced Washington that antidumping duties should be imposed on Chinese exports of solar panels, German firm SolarWorld AG has lodged a complaint with EU authorities against unfair Chinese competition in the sector.
Headed by SolarWorld, European solar panel manufacturers are reported by the Financial Times as having lodged a complaint with the European Commission against Chinese exports of solar panels, thereby opening a new front in the trade battle with China, this time in renewables, comments the Wall Street Journal Europe on 24 July.
European industry accuses its Chinese competitors of selling their goods at prices lower than cost in order to maintain a dominant position on the European market, and calls on the EU to impose anti-dumping duties on photovoltaic cells imported from China, just as the United States did in May.
On 17 May, the US Trade Department announced it was imposing antidumping duties ranging from 30% to 250% on solar panels, made by 61 manufacturers, imported from China. In March, the US government announced taxes of between 2.9% and 4.73% on imports from the three main Chinese manufacturers.
The European solar market is the world's largest, with installed production capacity ten times greater than that of the United States in 2011.
The European Commission, which did not wish to comment, has 45 days to decide whether to open an official investigation. German Environment Minister Peter Altmaier said at the end of last week that he was considering opening unfair competition proceedings against China, which is flooding the European market with low-cost solar panels.
Chinese company, Suntech Power Holdings, the world leader in solar panel production, rejects SolarWorld allegations of illegal subsidies and of dumping photovoltaic products in Europe, and says it will cooperate fully with any investigation. “Protectionist measures would harm the entire European solar industry”. They would “increase the cost of solar energy in Europe and delay the transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy. Tariffs would also destroy thousands of jobs in the European solar industry”, the head of Suntech Europe, Jerry Stokes, is quoted by several media outlets as saying. (EH/transl.rt)