The ongoing international trade dispute centered on solar
imports is getting more complicated.
In the latest twist, China has reached a deal to end its
dispute with the European Union. The settlement proposes setting a minimum
price 0f $0.74 per watt for Chinese-made solar panels in EU, so they won’t
undercut European producers. The deal applies to solar panels, as well as
wafers and solar cells.
"I can announce today that I am satisfied with the
offer of a price undertaking submitted by China’s solar-panel exporters, as
foreseen by the EU’s trade defense legislation. This is the amicable solution
that both the EU and China were looking for," says EU Trade Commissioner
Karel De Gucht.
The two sides have been talking actively since May, when
the EU agreed to follow the US lead and imposed anti-dumping tariffs on Chinese
imports.
"The price undertaking agreement reflects the wishes
of the majority of the Chinese industry and the bilateral consultations of
China’s solar-products industry to continue exports to Europe and to maintain
reasonable market share," says the Chinese Chamber of Commerce in a
statement.
But the deal apparently leaves the US in the cold: behind
closed doors, it has been trying to negotiate a more comprehensive arrangement
that would apply across all three economies, reports The New York Times
(NYTimes).
“The administration has been doing the right thing on
this, pushing for talks and trying to get a joint settlement with Europe, but
the Europeans have not had the same attitude and instead are pursuing talks
with China independently of the US, which has stalled progress on US-China
talks,” a US Senate aide with knowledge of the talks, told the NYTimes.
The proposed agreement between the EU and China is by no
means a done deal. It is subject to approval by all 28 EU commissioners and is
already being criticized by European solar companies, which plan to challenge
it in court if it goes forward.
Milan Nitzschke, the president of EU ProSun, an industry
group that has been pushing for the European tariffs, told the NYTimes that the
proposed settlement price is almost at parity with the current dumping price and
will offer no remedy for local manufacturers. The agreement "is contrary
in every respect to European law," says Nitzschke.
The minimum price under the settlement actually is
voluntary, covering 90 of the 140 Chinese companies that were part of the original
investigation – which are responsible for about 60% of the panels sold in
Europe. Any Chinese exporter that doesn’t agree to it will have to pay the EU’s
anti-dumping tariffs, set to increase to an average of 47.6% on Aug. 6.
“The terms may be set with the EU, but we all know that
China’s excess production will continue to be targeted at other markets — the
US and elsewhere,” Michael Wessel, a trade lawyer who has advised the United
Steelworkers union on solar panels, told the NYTimes. “Rather than abide by the
terms of its WTO commitments, once again, China has bullied others into
submission.”
The EU is the biggest market for Chinese solar exports.
In 2011, the market was worth $27.4 billion, reports the NYTimes.
News of the settlement came just days after China adopted
tariffs on polysilicon imports from the US and South Korea, but exempted EU
imports in deference to the ongoing settlement negotiations.
China’s tariffs — up to 57% for US makers, and 48.7% for
South Korean companies — counter the 2012 US decision to impose duties of up
to 250% on Chinese solar panels, for "dumping panels below cost."
Loading...