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As the saying goes， every cloud has a silver lining. Just as it was widely believed that Chinese photovoltaic exports to the European Union （EU） would continue to be slapped with unreasonable duties， a turnaround came.
On July 27， five solar panel groups， including the China Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export of Machinery and Electronic Products （CCCME）， announced that an agreement had been reached to allow Chinese solar panel imports access to a majority of the EU market at a minimum set price.
The deal， reached between the CCCME and the European Commission， came after weeks of intensive talks following a decision by the commission to impose provisional anti-dumping duties on Chinese for two months beginning in early June.
The agreement pegged the floor price for Chinese solar imports at 0.56 euro （$0.74） per watt and imposed an export quota of 7 gigawatts （gw） on Chinese manufacturers. The compromise came just in time. If the two parties failed to reach a consensus on a price undertaking before August 6， all Chinese solar panel exports to the EU would be levied with an anti-dumping duty as high as 47.6 percent.
“To comply with the new agreement， Chinese manufacturers have to raise prices by 10 percent. Compared with the 47.6-percent punitive duty， the price increase seems less desperate，” said Zhao Yuwen， Director of the Photovoltaic Committee of the China Renewable Energy Society.
“Under the terms of the deal， about 60 percent of the market share in the EU could be guaranteed for Chinese solar panel exporters，”said Chen Huiqing， Deputy Director of the Legal Department of the CCCME.
The price settlement was welcomed by the Ministry of Commerce （MOFCOM）， which said the decision would help ease China-EU bilateral trade frictions. Shen Danyang， MOFCOM spokesman， believed that settling trade disputes through negotiations would contribute to an open， cooperative， stable and sustainable relationship between two of the world’s largest economies.
On the other side， Karel De Gucht， the EU Trade Commissioner， also expressed satisfaction with the price settlement， saying the deal would lead to a new market balance at sustainable prices.
Avoiding a lose-lose result
China is the EU’s second largest trading partner after the United States. In 2012， China exported goods worth 290 billion euros （$385 billion） to the EU， while goods totaling 144 billion euros（$191 billion） flowed from the EU to China. When a ballot was held in May to allow EU members to vote on whether to tax Chinese solar panel products， the Alliance for Affordable Solar Energy （AFASE）， which represents more than 1，000 European photovoltaic manufacturers， protested.
According to the European Photovoltaic Industry Association， around 70 percent of the photovoltaic supply chain’s value in the EU market is created in Europe. It’s worth 40 billion euros （$53 billion） and provides 265，000 jobs for EU countries. “In contrast， the enterprises in favor of a heavy anti-dumping tariff against China only create no more than 8，000 jobs，” said in an open letter sent to the European Commission by the AFASE.
A study by Prognos， a German research consultancy， shows， 115，600 jobs could be lost in the EU as a result of anti-dumping duties， with upward of 4.7 billion euros （$6.24 billion） in total lost revenue. In addition， a great many Chinese solar panel producers， or even the entire photovoltaic industry， would be pushed to the brink of bankruptcy if the tariffs were imposed.
Taking advantage of a growing market for renewable energy， Chinese solar panel production quadrupled between 2009 and 2011—more than the world’s entire demand.
In 2011， Chinese photovoltaic exports to the EU totaled $20.4 billion. With the panic triggered by the EU anti-dumping investigation sweeping across the industry， the figure fell to$11.19 billion in 2012， down 45.1 percent.
The impact
The 7-gw quota reminds people of the embarrassing situation that China faced before its entry to the World Trade Organization （WTO）. A decade ago， many developed countries imposed export quotas on Chinese-made products， which greatly hindered the expansion of several of China’s industries.
Take the textile industry for example. The WTO membership makes it possible for China’s textile industry to shake off quota restrictions and unleash its huge potential. Yet， before entering the WTO， according to a treaty approved by the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade in 1974， developed countries were allowed to place export quotas on Chinese-made textile products. At that time， to gain access to foreign markets， some enterprises even paid more in purchasing quotas from larger textile enterprises than manufacturing. In some sense， China didn’t win a complete victory in the solar trade war with the EU.
With the imposition of the 7-gw quota， China’s solar industry would undergo a major reshuffle. On the one hand， the price undertaking prescribes that imported Chinese-made solar products that exceed the quota or are sold below the floor price will still be levied a 47.6-percent anti-dumping tariff. On the other hand， of the 200 solar manufacturers， only 95 that participate in the price undertaking arrangements will be exempted from the punitive tax， leaving more than 100 other enterprises to continue facing the dilemma. Apparently， in the quota competition among domestic manufacturers， small enterprises will be squeezed out of the arena.
“Higher cost and backward manufacturing equipment put small enterprises at a disadvantage， and many of them may be phased out，”Wang Xiaokun， an energy analyst from Sublime China Information， told Beijing Business Today.
Zhai Xiaohua， President of Canadian Solar Inc.， believed that the price undertaking would give China’s solar industry a chance to restructure and upgrade.
China’s solar trade has experienced explosive growth. Swaths of small solar producers have cropped up in recent years. In foreign markets， Chinese solar producers are trapped in dog-eat-dog price wars， which directly led to frequent anti-dumping and countervailing probes by foreign countries.
“The entire solar industry will enter a period of integration and upgrading，” said Wang. “It will help achieve the goal of largescale production and manufacturing high value-added products.”
Solar Dispute Timeline
September 6， 2012： The European Commission announced an anti-dumping probe into photovoltaic products imported from China.
September 25， 2012： EU ProSun， a joint initiative of EU solar businesses， filed a second complaint to the European Commission， accusing Chinese photovoltaic manufacturers of receiving illegal subsidies from the Chinese Government and requiring a punitive import tariff on Chinese photovoltaic products.
November 8， 2012： The EU officially began an anti-subsidy investigation into Chinese-made solar products.
March 6， 2013： The EU began to register photovoltaic products imported from China.
May 22， 2013： The CCCME announced that it would submit a negotiation plan to the European Commission， which immediately rebuffed it. Then， the first round of talks on price undertaking collapsed.
May 24， 2013： A total of 17 EU members opposed the plan to impose antidumping and countervailing duties on solar imports from China.
June 4， 2013： The European Commission declared the levying of a provisional anti-dumping duty of 11.8 percent on imports of solar panels， cells and wafers from China， from June 6 to August 6， when the duty would be raised to 47.6 percent if a compromise was not reached between the two parties.
July 27， 2013： The China Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export of Machinery and Electronic Products（CCCME） published a joint statement with other Chinese industry players announcing an agreement over China’s solar panel exports to the EU.
（Compiled by Beijing Review）
On July 27， five solar panel groups， including the China Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export of Machinery and Electronic Products （CCCME）， announced that an agreement had been reached to allow Chinese solar panel imports access to a majority of the EU market at a minimum set price.
The deal， reached between the CCCME and the European Commission， came after weeks of intensive talks following a decision by the commission to impose provisional anti-dumping duties on Chinese for two months beginning in early June.
The agreement pegged the floor price for Chinese solar imports at 0.56 euro （$0.74） per watt and imposed an export quota of 7 gigawatts （gw） on Chinese manufacturers. The compromise came just in time. If the two parties failed to reach a consensus on a price undertaking before August 6， all Chinese solar panel exports to the EU would be levied with an anti-dumping duty as high as 47.6 percent.
“To comply with the new agreement， Chinese manufacturers have to raise prices by 10 percent. Compared with the 47.6-percent punitive duty， the price increase seems less desperate，” said Zhao Yuwen， Director of the Photovoltaic Committee of the China Renewable Energy Society.
“Under the terms of the deal， about 60 percent of the market share in the EU could be guaranteed for Chinese solar panel exporters，”said Chen Huiqing， Deputy Director of the Legal Department of the CCCME.
The price settlement was welcomed by the Ministry of Commerce （MOFCOM）， which said the decision would help ease China-EU bilateral trade frictions. Shen Danyang， MOFCOM spokesman， believed that settling trade disputes through negotiations would contribute to an open， cooperative， stable and sustainable relationship between two of the world’s largest economies.
On the other side， Karel De Gucht， the EU Trade Commissioner， also expressed satisfaction with the price settlement， saying the deal would lead to a new market balance at sustainable prices.
Avoiding a lose-lose result
China is the EU’s second largest trading partner after the United States. In 2012， China exported goods worth 290 billion euros （$385 billion） to the EU， while goods totaling 144 billion euros（$191 billion） flowed from the EU to China. When a ballot was held in May to allow EU members to vote on whether to tax Chinese solar panel products， the Alliance for Affordable Solar Energy （AFASE）， which represents more than 1，000 European photovoltaic manufacturers， protested.
According to the European Photovoltaic Industry Association， around 70 percent of the photovoltaic supply chain’s value in the EU market is created in Europe. It’s worth 40 billion euros （$53 billion） and provides 265，000 jobs for EU countries. “In contrast， the enterprises in favor of a heavy anti-dumping tariff against China only create no more than 8，000 jobs，” said in an open letter sent to the European Commission by the AFASE.
A study by Prognos， a German research consultancy， shows， 115，600 jobs could be lost in the EU as a result of anti-dumping duties， with upward of 4.7 billion euros （$6.24 billion） in total lost revenue. In addition， a great many Chinese solar panel producers， or even the entire photovoltaic industry， would be pushed to the brink of bankruptcy if the tariffs were imposed.
Taking advantage of a growing market for renewable energy， Chinese solar panel production quadrupled between 2009 and 2011—more than the world’s entire demand.
In 2011， Chinese photovoltaic exports to the EU totaled $20.4 billion. With the panic triggered by the EU anti-dumping investigation sweeping across the industry， the figure fell to$11.19 billion in 2012， down 45.1 percent.
The impact
The 7-gw quota reminds people of the embarrassing situation that China faced before its entry to the World Trade Organization （WTO）. A decade ago， many developed countries imposed export quotas on Chinese-made products， which greatly hindered the expansion of several of China’s industries.
Take the textile industry for example. The WTO membership makes it possible for China’s textile industry to shake off quota restrictions and unleash its huge potential. Yet， before entering the WTO， according to a treaty approved by the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade in 1974， developed countries were allowed to place export quotas on Chinese-made textile products. At that time， to gain access to foreign markets， some enterprises even paid more in purchasing quotas from larger textile enterprises than manufacturing. In some sense， China didn’t win a complete victory in the solar trade war with the EU.
With the imposition of the 7-gw quota， China’s solar industry would undergo a major reshuffle. On the one hand， the price undertaking prescribes that imported Chinese-made solar products that exceed the quota or are sold below the floor price will still be levied a 47.6-percent anti-dumping tariff. On the other hand， of the 200 solar manufacturers， only 95 that participate in the price undertaking arrangements will be exempted from the punitive tax， leaving more than 100 other enterprises to continue facing the dilemma. Apparently， in the quota competition among domestic manufacturers， small enterprises will be squeezed out of the arena.
“Higher cost and backward manufacturing equipment put small enterprises at a disadvantage， and many of them may be phased out，”Wang Xiaokun， an energy analyst from Sublime China Information， told Beijing Business Today.
Zhai Xiaohua， President of Canadian Solar Inc.， believed that the price undertaking would give China’s solar industry a chance to restructure and upgrade.
China’s solar trade has experienced explosive growth. Swaths of small solar producers have cropped up in recent years. In foreign markets， Chinese solar producers are trapped in dog-eat-dog price wars， which directly led to frequent anti-dumping and countervailing probes by foreign countries.
“The entire solar industry will enter a period of integration and upgrading，” said Wang. “It will help achieve the goal of largescale production and manufacturing high value-added products.”
Solar Dispute Timeline
September 6， 2012： The European Commission announced an anti-dumping probe into photovoltaic products imported from China.
September 25， 2012： EU ProSun， a joint initiative of EU solar businesses， filed a second complaint to the European Commission， accusing Chinese photovoltaic manufacturers of receiving illegal subsidies from the Chinese Government and requiring a punitive import tariff on Chinese photovoltaic products.
November 8， 2012： The EU officially began an anti-subsidy investigation into Chinese-made solar products.
March 6， 2013： The EU began to register photovoltaic products imported from China.
May 22， 2013： The CCCME announced that it would submit a negotiation plan to the European Commission， which immediately rebuffed it. Then， the first round of talks on price undertaking collapsed.
May 24， 2013： A total of 17 EU members opposed the plan to impose antidumping and countervailing duties on solar imports from China.
June 4， 2013： The European Commission declared the levying of a provisional anti-dumping duty of 11.8 percent on imports of solar panels， cells and wafers from China， from June 6 to August 6， when the duty would be raised to 47.6 percent if a compromise was not reached between the two parties.
July 27， 2013： The China Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export of Machinery and Electronic Products（CCCME） published a joint statement with other Chinese industry players announcing an agreement over China’s solar panel exports to the EU.
（Compiled by Beijing Review）