ITC: Chinese solar panels harm U.S. makers

The International Trade Commission determined that U.S. manufacturers of solar panels are being harmed by unfairly priced imports from China and Taiwan.    The U.S. International Trade Commission has determined that domestic manufacturers of crystalline silicon photovoltaic products are harmed by unfairly priced imports from China and Taiwan.
   The Commerce Department in mid-December determined that these solar panel imports are sold in the United States at less than fair value and are subsidized by the Chinese government.
   As a result of the ITC’s affirmative determinations, Commerce will issue countervailing duty orders on imports of these products from China and antidumping duty orders on imports of these products from China and Taiwan.
   Mukesh Dulani, U.S. president of Hillsboro, Ore.-based SolarWorld, the company which petitioned the U.S. government to investigate the imports of Chinese and Taiwanese solar panels, said the ITC’s decision “confirms the facts set out in our initial filing, the commission staff report and our testimony at the agency’s November hearing in the case. Manufacturers in China and Taiwan used illegal trade practices that harm the U.S. industry.
   “Although these second cases have come to an end, there is still much work to do,” Dulani added. “We will continue to work with U.S. Customs and Border Protection to ensure that U.S. trade laws are thoroughly and effectively enforced to prevent circumvention.”
   On Dec. 16, 2014, Commerce announced antidumping duty rates of 52.13 percent and anti-subsidy rates of 38.72 percent on most imports of solar panels made in China and antidumping rates of 19.50 percent on most imports of solar cells made in Taiwan, regardless of where they are assembled into panels. 
   In separate SolarWorld cases concluded in December 2012, Commerce imposed duties averaging about 29 percent on solar cells from China. “Until recently, the Chinese industry largely evaded the earlier duties by using cells made in Taiwan,” SolarWorld said.