U.S. Slaps High Tariffs on Chinese Solar Panels

[Left Coast2020]

20. Well, I guess its a step in the right direction.

I question the notion that its too late, but its better than doing nothing.


(Reuters) - The United States hit Chinese solar companies with punitive import tariffs of 30 percent or more on Thursday, ruling they had dumped cut-price solar panels into the U.S. market.

In the latest salvo in a series of ongoing trade disputes between Beijing and Washington, the U.S. Commerce Department said it sided with U.S.-based solar companies that had complained a wave of Chinese imports had wrongly undercut their pricing and forced several renewable players out of business.

With Thursday's move, Washington set tariffs on shipments from most of the top Chinese exporters, including Suntech Power Holdings Co Ltd and Trina Solar Ltd, at about 31 percent.

Several of the Chinese companies and a solar trade group opposed to the tariffs denounced the duties, and said they would drive up costs for the clean energy source, stunting its fast growth.

The new tariff was "a heavy blow to America's solar industry," Jigar Shah, head of the anti-tariff Coalition for Affordable Solar Energy, said.

Shah said he hoped the tariffs would be reduced before they are finalized later this year, since they would likely cost thousands of jobs in the nascent industry.

The new U.S. ruling stems from a complaint filed last October by the U.S. subsidiary of Germany's SolarWorld AG, and six other U.S. companies that alleged unfair competition and had sought duties well above 100 percent.

(Yahoo News)