Taiwanese PV makers to suffer from new US trade rules - EnergyTrend

Oct 20, 2014 - Photovoltaic (PV) cell makers in Taiwan may be seriously affected by the US’ decision to investigate modules produced in Taiwan and third-party manufacturers using Taiwan-made cells, EnergyTrend said on Friday.

“This new amendment is a game changer,” said research manager Jason Huang.

In July, the US Department of Commerce (DOC) issued preliminary anti-dumping tariffs of up to 165% on imports of crystalline silicon PV products from China and Taiwan. The duties came on top of preliminary anti-subsidy tariffs of between 18.56% and 35.21% that Chinese and Taiwanese manufacturers were slapped in June. The US International Trade Commission (ITC) also said it would amend the used criteria and may classify PV equipment as Chinese, regardless of the country in which the utilised cells and wafers have been made.

With the amendment, large PV equipment makers like Yingli Green Energy Holding Co Ltd (NYSE:YGE) and JinkoSolar Holding Co Ltd (NYSE:JKS) will make the cells themselves, without relying on ones made in Taiwan. “This will ensure the modules are only hit with the lighter 2012 duties rather than the new, higher one,” said Huang. The result will be that demand for Taiwan-made cells will decline as orders from China will fall, he added.

EnergyTrend is a division of Taiwanese market researcher Trendforce.

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