Archive for August 21st, 2012

A trade war between the United States and China over solar panels is brewing.

The U.S. has accused China of illegally subsidizing its domestic manufacturers, which have enabled them to ramp up panel production even as prices fell, and “dumping” goods into the U.S. marketplace. Chinese panel manufacturers are also believed to have few environmental restrictions, which further slash their costs.

At the behest of a consortium of U.S. solar panel companies, the Obama administration imposed a series of temporary tariffs on Chinese solar panel imports, with the levies ranging from 31 percent to 250 percent. As a result, Chinese solar sales in the U.S. dropped by 64 percent in April and 45 percent in May, according to the Coalition for American Solar Manufacturing. In response, the Chinese government and solar panel industry have filed complaints, accusing the U.S. of trying to “protect its own industry amid an economic downturn,” the Wall Street Journal reported. Read the rest of this entry »