U.S. initiates anti-dumping, CVD investigations of solar PV products from China, Taiwan

24/01/2014 12:00 - 452 Views

The U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC) has initiated anti-dumping and anti-subsidy (countervailing duty or CVD) investigations of imports of crystalline silicon solar photovoltaic (PV) products from China and Taiwan.

The decision follows petitions by SolarWorld Industries Americas Inc. (Hillsboro, Oregon, U.S.) on December 31st, 2013. The investigation could expand the scope of existing tariffs on Chinese PV products to include PV modules comprising cells made in third-party nations, particularly Taiwan.

The U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) will make preliminary injury determinations by February14th, 2014. If the ITC finds evidence of injury to the U.S. PV industry, the investigations will continue. DOC plans to issue a preliminary CVD ruling in March 2014 and a preliminary anti-dumping ruling in June 2014.

TrendForce's (Taipei City, Taiwan) EnergyTrend division has warned that as Taiwanese PV cell makers reported losses for much of 2013, they fit the U.S. government criteria for anti-dumping established in previous trade cases.

Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA, Washington D.C.) has called for a negotiated solution, however SolarWorld has shown no indication that it will abandon its current approach.

Source: http://www.solarserver.com/