US solar manufacturers sues Obama administration over tariff
loophole for Chinese panels
Washington (Platts)--1Feb2013/526 pm EST/2226 GMT
A group of US solar manufacturers Friday sued the Obama administration
over a loophole in tariffs announced last year on Chinese-made solar
panels and cells, saying a deliberately included exemption in the
penalties allows some imports to continue, harming the domestic
industry.
The US Department of Commerce in March imposed countervailing duties and
anti-dumping tariffs to more than 250% from 24% on solar cells and
panels made in China, charging that the Chinese government was illegally
subsidizing their manufacture under World Trade Organization rules and
that Chinese manufacturers were "dumping" them in the US at below-market
prices.
However, Commerce left in a potentially big loophole in its tariffs, by
exempting Chinese modules made from cells manufactured in a third
country. The exemption will allow Chinese manufacturers to escape the
penalties by outsourcing the production of the cells, which is just one
part of the panel-making process, the Coalition for American Solar
Manufacturing said.
CASM, which had lobbied the Obama administration to impose the
tariffs, is asking the US Court of International Trade to close the
loophole.
"With our cases, the US government went a long way in investigating and
attempting to halt the anti-competitive and destructive impacts of
China's illegal trade practices on America's domestic solar industry,"
Gordon Brinser, president of Oregon-based SolarWorld Industries America,
which led the formation of CASM, said in a statement. "Now we are
looking to finish the job. American jobs depend on it."
The tariffs and duties were prompted by a complaint filed last year by
CASM, which alleged that China's national and local governments have
provided more than $40 billion in illegal annual subsidies to Chinese
solar cell and panel manufacturers, including cash grants, loan
guarantees, lower-cost inputs, discounted export insurance and other
aid.
CASM also accused Chinese manufacturers of "dumping" their products in
the US to illegally gain market share.
CASM, in its lawsuit, said its original complaint to Commerce covered
both cells and panels manufactured in China and that the agency should
have covered both in its tariffs.
"Chinese producers can grow silicon crystal, slice that crystal into
solar wafers, outsource conversion of those wafers into cells to Taiwan
or elsewhere, then bring them back for assembly into panels for export
to the US market without facing any measure to offset the
anti-competitive effects of China's illegal subsidies and US pricing,"
CASM said.
A Commerce Department spokesman referred questions to the Department of
Justice, where a spokesman could not immediately be reached for comment.
CASM is also appealing Commerce's decision not to investigate Chinese
subsidies on aluminum extrusions and rolled glass, as well as its
imposing of separate, lower duty rates for several Chinese panel makers,
including Trina Solar, Hanwha SolarOne, Chint Solar and JA Solar.
CASM said those companies should not have qualified for lower rates
because they failed to provide sufficient evidence that they are not
owned or controlled by the Chinese government.
--Herman Wang,
herman_wang@platts.com
--Edited by Richard Rubin,
richard_rubin@platts.com
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