China to probe U.S., South Korean solar materials imports

By Michael Martina and Leonora Walet

BEIJING/HONG KONG () - China will open investigations into imported U.S. and South Korean solar-grade polysilicon, the country's trade ministry said on Friday, in the latest instance of growing tensions between major solar manufacturers.

The Ministry of Commerce said that it would open anti-dumping and anti-subsidy probes on U.S. imported polysilicon, as well as an anti-dumping probe on South Korean imports of the raw materials used to make solar products.

The Chinese ministry issued the decisions in two statements on its website, citing preliminary evidence from several companies - GCL Poly-Energy Holdings, LDK Solar, and Daqo New Energy.

Chinese officials have threatened to impose trade duties on U.S. shipments of polysilicon if the United States moved to penalize Chinese solar companies.

A spokeswoman for the U.S. Trade Representative's office said the United States was disappointed with the Chinese move and would "vigorously defend its interests" in the case.

"As we have stated with respect to similar actions by China, we are concerned that China appears to have established a practice of using trade remedy investigations to retaliate against legitimate actions taken by its trading partners," USTR spokeswoman Nkenge Harmon said.

Western solar companies have been at odds with their Chinese counterparts for years, alleging they receive lavish credit lines to offer modules at cheaper prices, while European players struggle to refinance.

China's move came a day after Germany's Environment Minister Peter Altmaier gave backing to German companies' efforts to launch anti-dumping proceedings in Europe. Germany is the world's largest solar market.

Earlier this year, the United States put two new import duties totalling about 35 percent on solar equipment from China, citing the country's unfair support of its industry and illegal dumping of inventories in the U.S. market.

The Coalition for American Solar Manufacturing, the U.S. industry group that sought duties on Chinese-made solar panels, blasted the new Chinese investigation as "an abuse of international trade rules."

"Today's announcement by the Chinese government proves once and for all that it is intent on unfairly and illegally allowing its manufacturers to dominate the global solar industry," Gordon Brinser, president of SolarWorld Industries America, said.

TRADE STRAINS

China's solar manufacturers such as Suntech Power Holdings,Air Max 95 VaporMax