The U.S. head of SolarWorld voiced confidence that today’s announcement
of preliminary U.S. anti-dumping duties on imports of solar cells and
panels from China’s state-sponsored manufacturers could begin to help
restore legal and fair global competition and revive growth in U.S.
solar-industry manufacturing and jobs. The duties were calculated to
counter the Chinese industry’s illegal practice of dumping products, or
selling them at artificially low prices, in the United States to seize
market share here.
The U.S. Department of Commerce issued anti-dumping duties of 31.14
percent on imports of solar cells and panels from Suntech, 31.22 percent
from Trina Solar, 31.18 percent from other companies that had requested
but not received individual duty determinations and 249.96 percent from
all other Chinese producers, including those controlled by the Chinese
government.
The department also announced that in light of a massive, evasive surge
of imports ahead of the determination, these new duties would apply
retroactively 90 days. As a result of this determination of so-called
critical circumstances, importers of Chinese solar products must post
bonds or cash deposits in the full amounts of anti-dumping duties on
imports from now forward as well as back to mid-February.
"Today, SolarWorld and the many industry players who embrace the
sustainable efficiency gains and price declines that come from fair
competition can take heart that the U.S. government is standing up
against Big China Solar,” said Gordon Brinser, president of SolarWorld
Industries America Inc. and leader of the Coalition for Solar
Manufacturing (CASM). "Commerce’s careful measures could help thwart
China’s illegal drive to control the solar market and supplant
manufacturers and jobs in America, the very country that invented,
pioneered and innovated solar to today’s mainstream viability.”
"For the many former employees of at least 12 solar producers that have
staged layoffs, shuttered plants or entered bankruptcies since 2010, it
may be too late. But today’s announcement gives rise to the possibility
that domestic solar manufacturing, environmentally sustainable solar
production and robust global competition might one day soon return to
boosting U.S. manufacturing, jobs and energy security.”
"In our trade cases, the administration of President Obama is taking
steps to fulfill pledges to hold China accountable to U.S. and world
trade laws,” he said. "We look forward to seeing Commerce’s careful
investigations and findings continue to develop through September.”
SolarWorld – the largest, most experienced and only fully
vertically-integrated manufacturer of crystalline silicon solar in the
Western Hemisphere – began leading CASM when it filed its trade cases on
Oct. 19 with support from six other manufacturers. Since then, CASM has
grown to 210 employers representing more than 17,121 employees, about 85
percent operating in downstream businesses such as solar system
installation.
In representing the domestic manufacturing industry, SolarWorld contends
that the government of China has showered its manufacturers with support
to cover costs in many phases of their business lives, spur them to
massively overbuild production capacity, export more than 90 percent of
production and sell solar products at dumped prices in the U.S. market.
The National Renewable Energy Laboratory estimates that without such
sponsorship, Chinese producers confront a 5 percent cost disadvantage
in producing and delivering solar into the U.S. market, compared with
domestic producers. In March, the largest Chinese producer said
unsustainably low pricing will "rationalize” as competition is driven
out of business.
In March, Commerce issued a preliminary determination that 10 categories
of Chinese subsidy programs were illegal under U.S. and world trade law
and imposed anti-subsidy duties ranging from 2.9 percent to 4.73 percent
to counteract those subsidies. The anti-dumping duties are added on top
of the anti-subsidy duties. The department also found critical
circumstances relating to the anti-subsidy determination, meaning that
those duties are being collected on solar cells and panels imported from
then forward as well as back to late December. The preliminary
determination was incomplete, however, and Commerce is expected yet this
month to determine the extent of duties to offset additional categories
of subsidy programs.
After today’s ruling, Commerce will immediately initiate a final, more
in-depth phase of its investigation, including examinations of solar
operations and financial records in China.
About SolarWorld (www.SolarWorld.com)
SolarWorld (ISIN: DE0005108401) is a worldwide leader in offering
brand-name, high-quality, crystalline silicon solar-power technology.
The company’s strength is its fully integrated solar production. From
silicon as the raw material through wafers, cells and panels all the way
to turn-key solar systems of all sizes, the group combines all stages of
the solar value chain. The central business activity is selling
high-quality panels into the installation and distribution trades and
wafers to the international solar cell industry. Group headquarters are
located in Bonn, Germany, with sales sites in Singapore, South Africa,
Spain, France as well as in the U.S. state of California. The group’s
largest production facilities operate in Freiberg, Germany, and
Hillsboro in the U.S. state of Oregon. Sustainability is the basis of
the group strategy. Under the name Solar2World, the group supports
community aid projects using off-grid solar-power solutions in
developing countries, exemplifying sustainable economic development.
Worldwide, SolarWorld employs about 3,300 people. SolarWorld AG has been
quoted on the stock exchange since 1999 and today is listed on, among
others, the TecDAX and ÖkoDAX as well as in the sustainability index NAI.
