Citing the complexity of the cases, China's Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) announced on October 31st, 2013 that it will extend its anti-dumping and anti-subsidy investigations of solar-grade polysilicon imports from the EU for another six months.

MOFCOM began its anti-dumping investigation on November 1st, 2012, with a one-year deadline to complete the investigation but a provision for the six-month extension.

In July 2013 the agency imposed preliminary anti-dumping duties on U.S. and South Korean polysilicon, and has additionally imposed preliminary countervailing duties (CVD) on U.S. polysilicon.

Delay a response to EU settlement?

These polysilicon duties have widely been seen in the West as a retaliation for U.S. and EU trade action against Chinese PV imports. As such the lack of duties on EU polysilicon to date is notable given the negotiated settlement of the EU-China PV trade case.

In December 2013 EU states are expected to approve the negotiated settlement, which sets a minimum price and maximum import level of Chinese wafers, cells and modules. The European Commission is still conducting a CVD investigation into Chinese PV imports.

China currently represents the majority of crystalline silicon (c-Si) PV wafer, cell and module production. Polysilicon and manufacturing equipment are the only parts of the c-Si value chain that the nation does not yet dominate.

Source: solarserver.com