Diane Cardwell of The New York Times writes U.S. Imposes Steep Tariffs on Importers of Chinese Solar Panels, with import duties that will range from 18.56% to 35.21%, due to allegations that Chinese manufacturers are benefiting from unfair subsidies.
“Today is a strong win for the U.S. solar industry,” said Mukesh Dulani, president of SolarWorld Industries America, based in Hillsboro, Ore. “We look forward to the end of illegal Chinese government intervention in the U.S. solar market, and we applaud Commerce for its work that supports fair trade.” [...]
In 2012, the United States imposed duties of roughly 24 to 36 percent on imported panels made from Chinese solar cells — the final major parts that are assembled into completed modules — after concluding that Chinese solar companies had received unfair subsidies from their government and dumped products on the American market below costs.
But many Chinese companies were able to avoid the duties by assembling panels from cells produced elsewhere, especially in Taiwan, even if those cells were derived from components — called ingots and wafers — from China. Last year, SolarWorld Industries America, a subsidiary of a German company, brought a new case intended to close that loophole so that modules made from Taiwanese cells or cells made from Chinese ingots or wafers would be subject to duties as well.
SolarWorld Solar PV panels
This move is controversial in the U.S. solar industry. While manufacturers of solar panels are delighted, "developers, installers, and consumers have been helped" by the tremendous drop in prices of solar panels.
Also, China has imposed a counter-tariff on American polysilicon, the primary ingredient of traditional solar photovoltaic panels.
Another interesting fact we learn from this informative and detailed article by Diane Cardwell is that the recent U.S. Justice Department indictments of five Chinese military leaders for espionage against American companies included SolarWorld as one of the major targets of the Chinese, who allegedly hacked into their computers after SolarWorld filed its trade complaint against Chinese manufacturers.
Many other industry leaders are encouraging SolarWorld and the Obama administration to achieve some agreement with the Chinese out of concern that the mutual tariffs are going to substantially raise prices for U.S. customers and slow the adoption of solar energy which is accelerating to a record pace.