The verdict is now in. And it’s not good for Chinese solar manufacturers.
Although the official pronouncement has not been made, we’ve learned from sources close to the case that the Commerce Departments’s preliminary decision on SolarWorld’s solar dumping petition against China has been handed down in a case that had the potential to rock the U.S. solar market’s status as an emerging growth market.
China solar manufacturers have been accused of unfair trade practices in subsidizing solar panel manufacture and selling panels in the U.S. below their cost.
Cheaper Chinese solar panel pricing has been a boon for consumers and solar installers, but a competitive challenge for the few crystalline solar manufacturers in the U.S.
SolarWorld accuses Chinese firms of dumping. Others suggest that China has a legitimate cost advantage.On March 20 of this year, The Department of Commerce’s preliminary verdict on unfair subsidies for Chinese solar panels was handed down, along with what amounted to low tariffs for the Countervailing Duties (CVD).
The preliminary determination indicated the DOC’s intention to impose a duty of 4.73 percent on U.S. imports from Trina Solar, 2.9 percent from Suntech, and 3.59 percent from all other remaining Chinese manufacturers.