The U.S. Department of Commerce concluded yesterday that the Chinese government is improperly subsidizing solar manufacturers, so the United States will impose countervailing duties ranging from 2.9 percent to 4.73 percent on Chinese-made solar panels and cells.

A group of seven US-based manufacturers of solar panels is alarmed. These manufacturers, led by Solar World, a German firm with a plant in Oregon, filed a complaint with the United States International Trade Commission, which reached a preliminary conclusion in December that US companies were, in fact, being harmed by subsidized imports. If the Commerce Department goes on to find that Chinese firms have been dumping solar panels on the US market at prices below their costs, it could impose steep tariffs of 50 to 250% on Chinese panels, according to this report in The Times by Matt Wald. The Chinese government provides billions of dollars of low-cost financing and free or cheap land to Chinese solar firms.

In the statement which followed, CCCME posited that the SolarWorld-led petition is a “distortion of the current situation of China-based PV industries and their export of PV products to the U.S.” It added, “Any trade restrictive measures that may be imposed will unavoidably cause serious impairment to the sustainable development of the green energy industries
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Restrictive Trade Measures Will Drive Up PV Product Prices and Result in Delayed Achievement of Economical and Environmental Objectives Any restrictive trade measures resulting in levy of tariffs on imported Chinese PV products will inevitably drive up prices for companies that purchase PV panels and components, seriously hit their business development and may also slow
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