The EU’s 28 member states have backed the imposition of
definitive anti-dumping and countervailing duties on Chinese imports of solar
glass, according to news reports. The product is used primarily, but not
exclusively, in the manufacturing of solar panels.
The first, initiated in February 2013, dealt with whether
solar glass imports from the Asian giant were being sold on the European market
at prices lower than their domestic value, a practice known in trade jargon as
“dumping.” The latter investigation began in April of the same year, and
addressed whether these producers were also receiving unfair subsidies.
In both cases, the EU’s executive acted in response to
complaints filed by EU ProSun Glass, an industry
lobby group which says it represents approximately half of the bloc’s solar
manufacturers.
Provisional anti-dumping and countervailing - also known
as anti-subsidy - duties on Chinese solar glass were put in place by Brussels
in November at the levels approved last
Thursday, ranging from between 17.1 to 42.1 percent. Clearance from member
states was required, however, in order for the penalties to be extended for a
five-year period and will now take effect by the end of May.
According to EU data,
the European solar glass market weighs in at less than €200 million - a small
slice of the bloc’s total Chinese imports, valued at €290 billion in 2012.
Regardless, the Commission last year said it was obliged to initiate
proceedings based on the complaints due to “sufficient evidence” of dumping and
subsidies, and an apparent causal link between these and the material injury
suffered by EU producers.
The decision represents the latest chapter in a
tumultuous relationship between Brussels and Beijing on the subject of
renewable energy policies.
Two separate EU investigations into suspected dumping and
subsidies for Chinese solar panels together with their component wafers and
cells - a much larger market with an EU import value of €21 billion in 2011 -
were resolved last year. Negotiators on both sides bargained to secure a “price
undertaking” arrangement, although not before Beijing launched its own
investigations into EU exports of wine and polysilicon,
widely regarded as a tit-for-tat response.
These trade spats were preceded by other challenges from
China, including the filing of a complaint at the WTO over EU local content
requirements in November 2012.
Bilateral trade pact floated
In a sign of overall warming trade relations, however,
last month saw the two sides reach settlements on the wine and polysilicon investigations launched by China. The news came
just weeks ahead of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s
visit to Brussels, the first at that leadership level since diplomatic
relations were established in 1975.
Putting aside past disputes, the two sides agreed to
consider the possibility of a bilateral trade pact, conditioned upon the
success of ongoing negotiations towards an investment deal, which are in the
very early stages. Trade flows between the concerned economies already surpass
over €1 billion daily, with the EU coming in as China’s top trading partner.