Solar Energy Shifts to Taiwan to Avoid US Anti-dumping on China

The U.S. Commerce Department proposed expanded penalties on some Chinese solar-energy imports in a victory for the U.S. unit of SolarWorld AG (SWVK), which accused China of shifting production to Taiwan after it lost an earlier case.

The agency issued a preliminary finding on 25 July that said overseas producers, including China’s Trina Solar Ltd. and Taiwan’s Gintech Energy Corp. (3514), sold the goods in the U.S. at unfairly low prices, a practice known as dumping. It called for duties ranging as high as 165 percent for some Chinese manufacturers and 44 percent for those in Taiwan, according to a department fact sheet.

The SolarWorld case has split the U.S. solar-energy industry, with manufacturers seeking protections against being undercut by cheap imports, and installers pressing for low-cost equipment, regardless of origin. It’s also the latest spat between the U.S. and China, the world’s largest economies, which are vying to become the global base for clean-energy manufacturing.

A final decision by Commerce Department will be made in mid-December. The independent U.S. International Trade Commission will determine by the end of January whether U.S. makers of the solar-power goods were harmed by the imports. If so, the duties will be permanent.