Chinese solar panel imports to be hit by painful tariffs

The European Union’s tariffs will range from 37.3% to 67.9%.

The tariffs on Chinese solar panel manufacturers will take effect June 6. Some of the largest Chinese manufacturers will face duties on the higher end of that range.

Suntech Power Holdings Co. Ltd. and its subsidiaries will face tariffs of 48.6%, according to reliable sources. Tariffs on LDK Solar Ltd will be 55.9%, while tariffs on Trina Solar Ltd. will be 51.5%. JingAo Solar Company will face tariffs of 58.7%.

Most other Chinese companies that cooperated with the EU investigation will pay the average tariff of 47.6%. Those that didn’t will pay a tariff of 67.9%.

The proposed tariffs will likely ignite a massive row over unfair trade ever waged under the decades-old system of international trade rules. European manufacturers claim Chinese firms are selling their products well below fair-market prices in a bid to dominate the world market for solar panels.

The duties are intended to protect European solar companies reeling from a flood of imported Chinese solar panels. Dozens of European manufacturers have shut production or gone out of business as solar panel prices have plummeted.

The price of Chinese solar panels imported into the EU fell nearly 75% between 2009 and last year. The price of solar cells and silicon wafers, solar panel components that will also face import duties, fell 42% and 40%, respectively.