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By Ucilia Wang
The year-long tussle over whether Chinese solar manufacturers have undercut their competitors unfairly, and significantly hurt their American rivals, is close to the end. And so far, neither side’s dire predictions have come true.
The year-long trade case has divided U.S. solar companies — from manufactures to installers and project developers — over whether imposing tariffs on Chinese manufacturers will reverse a sorry streak of factory closures and bankruptcies. The case is now before the U.S. International Trade Commission, which held a final hearing on the case yesterday and plans to issue a decision by Nov. 7. The U.S. Department of Commerce is due to issue its final decision next Wednesday.
Both the commission and the commerce department have issued preliminary rulings that found fault with Chinese companies. The commerce department imposed preliminary tariffs of less than 5 percent for the subsidy claim and roughly 31 percent for major Chinese players and nearly 250 percent for the rest for the anti-dumping claim. The commission’s job is to determine whether Chinese manufacturers’ actions have hurt American manufacturers. The final decision on the tariffs by the commerce department will be in effect only if the trade commission finds that American manufacturers have suffered harm.
The trade complaint alleges that the Chinese companies, which have risen to dominate the global solar manufacturing market over the past five years or so, have received unfair subsidies from the Chinese government and that has enabled them to sell their products at below fair market values.
Doomsday prediction
When a group of manufactures, led by SolarWorld, filed the complaint against Chinese silicon solar cell makers last October, predictions about the positive or dire impact of the case began to fly. SolarWorld, which is based in Germany and runs a factory in Oregon, said tariffs are necessary to help American manufactures stay competitive and in business. The Sneakers