Friday, July 26, 2013

China raises U.S., Korean duties on key solar panel material

In the latest salvo in the global fight over the solar panel market between China, the U.S. and South Korea, China has boosted tariffs on the import of the U.S. and Korean-made polysilicon that is used to manufacture the panels.

The Ministry of Commerce said the duties of up to 57 percent are in response to dumping, or selling at improperly low prices.

The U.S. and the European Union have imposed anti-dumping duties on Chinese-made solar panels to compensate for what they say is billions of dollars of improper subsidies by China to manufacturers.

Under Beijing's latest retaliatory move, duties will increase to 53.3 to 57 percent on U.S.-made solar-grade polysilicon and 2.4 to 48.7 percent on South Korean polysilicon, according to the ministry

"A preliminary investigation finds dumping of imports of solar-grade polysilicon products originating in the United States and South Korea caused substantial damage to China's polysilicon industry," said the ministry in a statement.

For more of the Washington Post story: washingtonpost.com

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