China 'dumping' low-cost solar cells on market? US says 'yes'
Have China’s solar cell makers been “dumping” their products on the US market at low prices that undercut the competition? The US Department of Commerce this week made a preliminary finding that says, “Yes.”
Delivered in response to a complaint filed last year by SolarWorld, a German-based photovoltaics (PV) company with factories in the US, the Commerce Department finding concludes that “Chinese producers/exporters sold solar cells in the United States at dumping margins ranging from 31.14 percent to 249.96 percent.”
The legal definition of “dumping margin” is “the amount by which the normal value exceeds the export price or constructed export price of the subject merchandise.”
In other words, the Commerce Department has concluded that some Chinese solar companies were charging prices lower than one-third the fair value of their goods. However, most of the companies identified in the complaint were found to have much lower margins, typically closer to about three-fourths of fair value.
In 2011, the value of solar cells imported to the US from China were valued at $3.1 billion, although that includes some products not covered by the complaint. That reflects a dramatic increase from 2009, when the value of solar-cell imports from China came to just under $640 million.
The Commerce Department expects to make a final determination on the case in October. If a finding of dumping is then affirmed by the US International Trade Commission (ITC), the Commerce Department will then issue an antidumping duty order that will assess a duty on imported solar cells equal to the dumping margin identified for that importer.
