A new report released Monday escalated the internal battle within
the U.S. solar industry over a push to impose duties on Chinese
solar imports.
The Coalition for Affordable Solar Energy (CASE) released
a report that says the duties could result in as many as
60,000 job losses and cost up to $2.6 billion.
"[W]e estimate that tariffs will slow the growth in domestic
demand for photovoltaic systems by homeowners, commercial
establishments and utilities, resulting in substantial job losses,"
the report reads, which was commissioned by CASE, a group of U.S.
solar companies that opposes the push by solar panel manufacturers
to impose the duties.
The solar panel manufacturers, known as the Coalition for
American Solar Manufacturing (CASM), called on the U.S.
International Trade Commission and the Commerce Department earlier
this year to impose duties on imports of Chinese crystalline silicon
solar panels. The companies alleged that China is flooding the U.S.
market with underpriced solar panels and illegally subsidizing its
solar industry.
The petition immediately
caused a rift in the solar industry, pitting the solar
panel manufacturers against major solar developers and power
generators. CASE argues that the duties will effectively raise the
cost of solar panels and could cause a trade war with China.
If China imposes retaliatory duties on solar panel exports, the
United States could see 11,000 more job loses, according to the
report, which was authored by the Brattle Group.
“We cannot allow one company’s anti-China crusade to threaten the
U.S. solar industry and tens of thousands of American jobs,” CASE
President Jigar Shah said in a statement.
The International Trade Commission, which is probing Chinese solar
imports, said in December there is
“a reasonable indication” that Chinese imports of
crystalline silicon solar panels either injure or threaten to injure
U.S. companies.
The decision, which represents the preliminary phase of the probe,
paves the way for the Commerce Department, the second federal agency
involved in the case, to move forward with its determination of
whether China is subsidizing its solar industry and flooding the
U.S. market with underpriced panels.
Commerce is expected to make a preliminary decision March 2 on
whether to impose the duties. The department said Monday that it
will retroactively impose duties on panels imported into the United
States during the last 90 days if it ultimately decides the duties
are warranted.
The solar manufacturers who are calling for the duties applauded the
decision Monday.
“Robust and legal international competition, not predatory pricing
that relies on massive and improper subsidies, will produce the best
products and sustainable price declines over the long term,” said
Gordon Brinser, president of SolarWorld Industries America, one of
the companies that filed the trade petition. “Today, we are one step
closer to these aims.”
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