CORRECTED - US to impose heavy anti-dumping tariffs on imported Chinese solar panels

May 18, 2012 - The US Department of Commerce took on Thursday a preliminary decision to impose anti-dumping duties of approximately 31% on imports of China-made solar panels and cells.

Chinese Suntech Power Holdings Co Ltd (NYSE:STP) will face a 31.22% duty on its products, while its peer Trina Solar Ltd (NYSE:TSL) will get 31.14%. The tariff for other companies that had requested but not received individual duties will be 31.18%. However, all other China-based makers, including those run by the government, will get a tariff of 249.96%.

The 90-day retroactive tariff follows the anti-subsidy duties of between 2.9% and 4.73% imposed in March.

The saga began in the autumn of 2011 when fierce competition for market share prompted European and US PV module makers to blame their weakening performance on Chinese competitors. In October, the Coalition for American Solar Manufacturing (CASM) submitted petitions with the US Department of Commerce and the International Trade Commission accusing China of illegally subsidising solar cell production and dumping crystalline silicon cells into the US market. CASM called for the US government to impose duties on the imports of solar cells and modules. German photovoltaic (PV) group Solarworld (ETR:SWV), which is part of CASM, urged for up to 250% tariffs on Chinese imports.

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