China imposes anti-dumping duties on US solar products

BEIJING - China's Ministry of Commerce said Thursday that it will impose provisional anti-dumping duties on imported solar-grade polysilicon from the United States and the Republic of Korea.

Starting July 24, Chinese importers of solar-grade polysilicon from the United States will be required to pay deposit rates with Chinese customs ranging from 53.3 percent to 57 percent, depending on the dumping margin, the MOC said in a statement posted on its website.

Importers from the ROK will have to pay deposit rates ranging from 2.4 percent to 48.7 percent, according to the statement.

"After preliminary investigations, we found exporters in the United States and the ROK dumped their products on the Chinese market and caused material harm to China's domestic solar industry," the MOC said.

Last October, the US government imposed anti-dumping and countervailing duties on crystalline silicon photovoltaic cells from China.

The commerce department said Chinese producers and exporters sold solar cells in the US market at dumping margins ranging from 18.32 percent to 249.96 percent, and they received countervailable subsidies of 14.78 percent to 15.97 percent.

Solar-grade polysilicon is an important material for making solar cells.

Wang Bohua, secretary general of China Photovoltaic Industry Alliance, said the MOC's decision reflected its different approaches in dealing with solar disputes with the United States and the European Union.

In June, the EU imposed an interim anti-dumping duty of 11.8 percent on imports of all Chinese solar panel products, including panels, cells and wafers.

If both sides fail to come to an agreement, the duty will be raised to an average of 47.6 percent two months after it went into effect.

The two sides are trying to negotiate in the hope of averting the final ruling becoming an actuality.

The MOC launched similar probes into polysilicon from EU in November. Wang Bohua said the ministry's decision on Thursday revealed its leniency towards EU imports.