Solar Company Proposes End to U.S.-China Standoff Through AD/CV Duty Elimination
The Chinese government should agree to end its antidumping and countervailing duty investigations on U.S. polysilicon exports to China as part of a Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA)-sponsored proposal to end an on-going U.S.-China solar industry dispute, the SEIA said on Sept. 23. The Chinese government officially imposed the AD/CV duties on Sept. 20 (see 13091918). The proposal is based on the precedent set in the U.S.-Brazilian cotton subsidy dispute that the WTO awarded Brazil retaliation privileges, the SEIA said (see 10061828). The proposal would also include the following:
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- China would agree to remove the threat of artificial cost increases in a key raw material in the solar value chain, benefiting not just Chinese solar companies but all users of solar energy.
- Chinese companies would agree to create a fund that would benefit U.S. solar manufacturers directly and help to grow the U.S. market. Money for the fund would come from a percentage of the price premium Chinese companies are currently paying to third-country cell producers to get around U.S. trade sanctions, reducing costs and supply chain distortion for Chinese companies.
- In return, the U.S. antidumping and countervailing duties orders would be phased out.
- The proposal also calls for a safeguard mechanism designed to offset any surge of Chinese solar modules into the U.S. market.
Senators Max Baucus, D-Mont., and Jon Tester, D-Mont., endorsed the SEIA proposal in a joint Sept. 24 press statement.“This dispute has had a harmful effect on jobs in the U.S. and undercut our competitiveness in critical high-tech industries,” said the statement (here). “The best outcome for workers, manufacturers and consumers in Montana and across the country is to negotiate a settlement and bring the dispute to a close.”