Thursday, November 15, 2012

Trade panel approves duties on China solar products

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States gave final approval on Wednesday to duties on billions of dollars of solar-energy products from China for the next five years, protecting U.S. producers against lower-priced imports and raising fears of Chinese retaliation.

SolarWorld, the largest U.S. solar-panel manufacturer, accused Chinese competitors such as Suntech Power Holdings of selling solar cells and panels in the United States at unfairly low prices and receiving government subsidies. Gordon Brinser, president of SolarWorld America, told reporters the unanimous vote showed "very clearly" that U.S. producers had been harmed the imports.

The duties should allow U.S. producers to start adding jobs, but stringent enforcement is needed to prevent Chinese companies from circumventing the orders, he said.In the meantime, SolarWorld has invested $27 million over the past year in technology that is increasing the efficiency of its solar cells, Brinser said.

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