SEIA proposes Chinese fund for US solar industry instead of duties - report

Sep 23, 2013 - The Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) is proposing a fund financed by Chinese solar manufacturers to back the growth of US peers as an alternative to the punitive anti-dumping duties imposed by both sides, Bloomberg said today.

John Smirnow, SEIA’s vice president for trade and competitiveness, told the business news provider that the fund’s size could be in the “hundreds of millions of dollars” over the coming three years, though it is subject to many negotiations.

In 2012 the US imposed anti-dumping and anti-subsidy duties of up to 250% on Chinese solar cell imports in a bid to protect its domestic manufacturers amid global oversupply and severe pricing competition. China recently responded with anti-dumping duties of up to 57% on imports of US polysilicon. According to Smirnow trading rules would not do much to help either the US or China as the solar sector has a very complex supply chain globally, Bloomberg said. The SEIA vice president is pointing to several flaws in the current situation to uphold the proposed Chinese fund for the US solar industry that is to be presented officially soon. One of the weak spots of the current anti-dumping duties is that Chinese companies are now buying solar cells from Taiwan to avoid the punitive tariffs, Smirnow notes as cited by Bloomberg. At the same time, prices of solar equipment in the US are hiking, which may be good for manufacturers, but is hurting installers and customers.

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