REW.com: “Yesterday the U.S. Department of Commerce announced that it would impose preliminary countervailing duties (CVD) on Chinese-manufactured solar modules in an effort to close the loophole that was created when it imposed initial tariffs on Chinese-manufactured solar cells back in 2012.”
“In 2012, the DOC started imposing tariffs on Chinese-made cells and ingots. In an effort to avoid the tariffs, the manufacturers reportedly moved cell manufacturing to Taiwan but continued to manufacture modules in China. These new duties will now be imposed on modules.
…. they range from 18 to 30 percent.
Though the findings here are preliminary, the DOC will immediately begin collecting the duties until the final determination is made. Commerce is expected to announce a final determination on or near August 18, 2014. Following that announcement, the ITC will make its final determination on or near October 3, 2014. If both are affirmative, the CVD will stick. If either one is negative, no CVD order will be issued.
The sole petitioner in the trade case is SolarWorld who alledges that the Chinese government unfairly supports its solar manufacturers, creating an unfair playing field for the global solar marketplace.
The U.S. solar energy industries association (SEIA) reacted negatively to the news, calling it “damaging” and stating that the tariffs will slow the adoption of solar in the U.S. by raising the cost of solar for American consumers and businesses. SEIA president Rhone Resch further slammed the petitioner. “Ironically, the tariffs may provide little to no direct benefit to the sole petitioner SolarWorld, as we saw in the 2012 investigations,” he said.
SEIA said that it has been trying to facilitate conversations between SolarWorld and Chinese solar manufacturers for some time in an effort to “jump-start” government to government negotiations but that “we’re quickly running out of time.”
….The U.S. is separately investigating allegations that Chinese and Taiwanese producers dumped solar products below cost. Its preliminary ruling is expected on July 25, according to Bloomberg BNA.”
Future Today
