The EU has voted to allow registration of solar panels from China, allowing for retroactive import duties to be levied if the EU chooses to impose import tariffs later this year.
The non-binding vote was made upon request from the European solar industry.
China and the EU are currently embroiled in a trade dispute initiated by Germany’s SolarWorld. European solar panel manufacturers claim that Chinese firms are dumping PV products in the EU market at below cost price, unfairly disadvantaging the European producers.
The EU and China are currently in negotiations to resolve the dispute, and the EU Commission is set to announce a preliminary verdict on whether it will impose import tariffs on Chinese PV products in early June.
However, the EU Commission said that this vote to register Chinese imports did not mean the EU would impose import tariffs on Chinese solar cells and panels.
A First Solar installation in Sinzheim, Germany. Credit: First Solar
“Let’s be very clear: registration of imports of a certain product in trade defence procedures is nothing out of the ordinary,” said John Clancy, EU Trade Spokesperson. “It simply allows the industry concerned to mark a reference date so that there can be an option for retroactive measures if the case concludes in their favour.”
“So let’s not interpret this as suggesting anything – it is simply administrative procedure,” he added.
