SolarPower Europe, an association representing 403 European solar energy companies sent a letter to European Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmström on Wednesday 13 October calling for anti-dumping duties that have been in place since 2012 to be removed from photovoltaic panels and solar modules imported from China.
“The volume of European companies opposed to the trade measures is staggering. Companies have signed from every EU member state, from all segments of the value chain – including: steel, chemicals, engineering, developers, installers, power sales. European solar SMEs and large corporations are united in the belief that these trade duties must go”, SolarPower says.
It calls on the Commission to act and remove the measures through the expiry review launched in December 2015 which extended the anti-dumping duties by 15 months (see EUROPE 11447). The expiry review is due to be completed by March 2017.
In response to a complaint by the association of European solar module producers, EU ProSun, the EU, as part of the gentlemen’s agreement between the Commission and the Chinese government that was reached in summer 2013, has imposed measures against the dumping by Chinese producers and the subsidies they receive since December 2013.
This agreement involves a commitment on prices which allows Chinese solar panel exporters to avoid heavy anti-dumping duties of close to 50%. Under the terms of the agreement, the 70% of the Chinese solar panel producers who pledged to comply with a floor price of 56 cents do not pay the anti-dumping duty. The other Chinese producers who have not signed up to the agreement have to pay anti-dumping duty of 47.6% (see EUROPE 10902).
SolarPower Europe says that, “for European manufacturers in the solar value chain, the measures have been ruinous and have led to the loss of thousands of jobs in manufacturing”, a decrease in investment and a slow-down in the roll-out of solar power in Europe. By maintaining imported solar modules and panels at artificially high prices, companies are suffering as these prices increase their costs, the association says. This, it argues, is harming the development of a solar sector that is competitive against other energy sources, even though the costs of the technology are constantly falling across the globe.
EU ProSun immediately reacted, saying it had submitted a list to the European Commission of 150 installers that expressly support the extension of the anti-dumping measures and claiming it had the support of 800 independent German installers and of a vast network of 1,300 installers from throughout Europe.
“It is cynical of importers and SolarPower Europe to demand the termination of the anti-dumping measures. Anti-dumping rules are fundamental to guarantee a fair, level playing field in the EU market. Demanding the termination of the measures is essentially like abolishing doping controls at the Olympic Games”, it said.
EU ProSun went on to argue that the allegation by SolarPower that the minimum import prices on photovoltaic cells and modules have prevented new PV installations in the EU is “unjustified”.
“Since July, photovoltaic module prices have dropped by 20% but this has not led to any market growth in the EU. The reason for the decrease in investments is not the price levels, but the insecure regulatory environment. An increasing number of EU member states are abolishing incentives for new installations. To the contrary, they have even started to impose charges on the feed-in of solar electricity”, EU ProSun says.
Even the Chinese government has recently openly acknowledged that the reason behind the fall in new installations in the EU is not the minimum import price but restrictive political measures by member states, EU ProSun points out. (Original version in French by Emmanuel Hagry)