Chengdu, 06/09/2012 (Agence Europe) - Despite the reluctance of German Chancellor Angela Merkel, the European Commission is starting an anti-dumping investigation into solar panels imported from China. The Commission intends to repair, if it turns out to be true, a sizeable loss, as Chinese exports to the EU of solar panels and their photovoltaic components reached €21 billion in 2011.
After dithering about, the Commission finally decided to open an anti-dumping investigation on Thursday 6 September into the imports of solar panels and their key components (solar cells and solar wafers) coming from China, thus following up the complaint lodged on 25 July by the industrial association EU Pro Sun, which comprises about 20 European companies led by the German company SolarWorld AG. With collective production of over 25% of total European production, the minimum threshold to open an investigation, EU Pro Sun criticises the conditions which have allowed Chinese competitors to move from a 40% market share in 2009 to 80% in 2011 at world level. While the German manufacturer of photovoltaic cells, Q cells, filed for bankruptcy last April, Chinese manufacturers seized the top seven places on the world market for photovoltaic modules. The European industry accuses its Chinese competitors of selling their technology at prices below cost. This is the biggest anti-dumping complaint ever received by the Commission, as Chinese exports of solar panels and their key components to Europe reached €21 billion last year!
The investigation will examine Chinese production of solar panels and their components - solar wafers are transformed into cells - which are then assembled into modules. Some producers have integrated production; others produce only wafers, cells and/or modules. The investigation will last 15 months, but the Commission will have the possibility, at the end of nine months (in June 2013), of imposing provisional anti-dumping duties for a period of six months, if it considers that it has enough evidence to prove dumping. If the dumping is proved, the Commission will propose, at the end of 15 months, imposing definitive anti-dumping duties for a period of five years.
Earlier this year, SolarWorld AG of Germany had won a case in the United States where its American subsidiary, at the head of a coalition of American solar panel producers, convinced Washington to impose antidumping duties on Chinese exports of solar panels. After deciding, in March, to impose taxes from 2.9% to 4.73% on imports from the three main Chinese manufacturers, Washington decided, in May, to levy taxes of between 30% and 250% on 61 Chinese companies.
Immediately after the announcement of an antidumping investigation by the European side, China warned the EU, on Thursday morning, about the consequences that restrictions affecting Chinese exports of solar panels would have on the European renewable energies sector. However, while several firms concerned by the investigation - Yingli Green Energy, Suntech Power Holdings, Trina Solar and Canadian Solar - threatened to trigger a trade war, Beijing did not allude to the possibility of retaliatory measures. The spokesman for the Chinese Trade Ministry, Shen Danyang, simply expressed regret, saying: “On August 30, in the second round of China-Germany governmental consultations, Premier Wen Jiabao and the visiting German Chancellor Angela Merkel reached consensus on opposing trade protectionism, solving trade frictions, including frictions in the PV industry, through dialogue and consultations”. He intimated that anti-dumping measures against Chinese exports of photovoltaic technology could affect the development of the renewables sector worldwide. “Currently, as developing and utilising renewable energy becomes a global consensus, all nations should strengthen cooperation in this field and promote the more extensive application of PV energy in the world. The Chinese Ministry of Commerce would like to create conditions and establish platforms to promote cooperation in the industry among all nations”, he added.
Although the Chinese reaction appears moderate, it would appear that tension is running high ahead of the next EU/China summit, scheduled to be held in Brussels on 20 September, all the more as there is the threat of an investigation into subsidies granted by Beijing for Chinese telecommunications equipment manufacturers.
Greens welcome inquiry. Speaking on Thursday, Yannick Jadot of France said that more than six months after the American administration, the Commission is finally opening an investigation! He trusted that consultation would rapidly result in transitional measures for the protection of our borders. Protecting the photovoltaic industry and supporting renewables in Europe is not simply important for what is at stake regarding energy and climate. The fate of some hundred innovative companies and tens of thousands of jobs in the EU are also at stake, he commented. (EH/transl.fl/jl)