SolarWorld welcomes Trump's trade policy agenda

The US subsidiary of SolarWorld (ETR:SWV) said Thursday the “President’s National Trade Policy Agenda for 2017” is very good news for the US solar manufacturing sector.

It is applauding the Trump Administration’s move for strict enforcement of US trade laws.

The photovoltaics (PV) maker has been fighting hard for the imposition of anti-dumping and anti-subsidy measures against Chinese solar imports both in the US and Europe. It says it has been subject to “Chinese dumping, cyberhacking and subsidies for more than five years”.

SolarWorld noted that a new wave of overcapacity and dumping “orchestrated by the Chinese government” plus circumvention activities and other violations are again threatening the US solar manufacturing industry. The German parent company last month announced a new plan to successfully compete in the fast changing market environment, which includes 400 job cuts over the next two years.

“We must count on the Administration and our Congressional leaders to support heightened trade law enforcement to make sure our US workers can remain on the job and we can continue to make US investments in industry-leading technology,” said Juergen Stein, president of SolarWorld in the US.

The new trade policy agenda shows the government is prepared to act aggressively to protect true market competition, and warns that the US will not tolerate unfair trade practices that harm American businesses. Four major priorities are outlined in the document -- defending US national sovereignty over trade policy; strictly enforcing US trade laws; using American leverage to open markets abroad; and negotiating better trade deals with countries in key markets.

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