EC not to delay phaseout of EU tariffs on Chinese PV - report

Trade measures designed to limit imports of Chinese solar products into the EU will end in September, as the European Commission (EC) has decided to turn down a request for another expiry review, Reuters reports.

The decision has been supported by the majority of the EU’s 28 member states, knowledgeable sources told the news agency.

The EC imposed anti-dumping and anti-subsidy duties on Chinese photovoltaic (PV) products in December 2013. These would have ended in December 2015, if the watchdog had not initiated expiry reviews at the time. A decision was reached in March 2017 to gradually phase out the measures over a period of 18 months, ending next month.

China announced at the end of May that it is cutting support for new solar capacity additions in the country in 2018. Several market research companies said the global solar market is facing a new wave of oversupply. European manufacturers are worried that with the duties gone the market will be flooded with Chinese solar panels.

Milan Nitzschke, president of EU ProSun, the campaign group that represents solar manufacturers in Europe, was cited by Reuters as saying that certain companies may challenge the latest decision at the European Court of Justice.

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