Europe’s trade chief is pushing to impose provisional duties of about 40 per cent on Chinese solar panels in a move that risks stirring wider trade tensions with Beijing and dividing the EU industry.
Karel De Gucht, the trade commissioner, has arrived at the provisional duties figure after concluding that Chinese manufacturers benefited from illegal government subsidies and then dumped their products – or sold them below cost – on the EU market, according to people familiar with the matter. The case is the EU’s largest trade investigation based on the €21bn in Chinese solar products exported to Europe in 2011.
Mr De Gucht’s decision should offer a measure of relief to SolarWorld, the German manufacturer of photovoltaic cells and panels that spearheaded the complaint. SolarWorld lost €500m in 2012 and last week was negotiating with creditors to restructure its debts.