SolarWorld Commends Critical Wins in Trade Cases against China, Taiwan

SolarWorld, the largest U.S. solar manufacturer for nearly 40 years, commended the U.S. Department of Commerce for issuing final duties on a comprehensive scope of solar imports, announced today, in the company’s second set of trade cases over 3½ years. SolarWorld said that Commerce, by comprehensively addressing the allegedly unfair trade practices of China and Taiwan, has paved the way for expansion of solar manufacturing in the strong and growing U.S. market.

Commerce announced anti-dumping duty rates of 52.13 percent and anti-subsidy rates of 38.72 percent on most imports of solar panels made in China and anti-dumping rates of 19.50 percent on most imports of solar cells made in Taiwan, regardless of where they are assembled into panels. In separate SolarWorld cases concluded in December 2012, Commerce imposed duties averaging about 31 percent on solar cells from China, regardless of where they are assembled into panels. Until recently, Chinese industry largely evaded those duties by using cells made in Taiwan, according to federal import statistics.

SolarWorld said it was optimistic that the new duties, along with the scope of imports that they cover, can curb or offset the Chinese industry’s circumvention of duties to address improper trade practices in the company’s first cases. SolarWorld said the success of the new trade remedies will depend on steadfast enforcement.

"These remedies come just in time to enable the domestic industry to return to conditions of fair trade,” said Mukesh Dulani, U.S. president of SolarWorld. "The tariffs and scope set the stage for companies to create new jobs and build or expand factories on U.S. soil.”

"For this possibility, we thank the many U.S. trade investigators who exhaustively probed and addressed the facts of our cases as well as the resolve of Oregon Senator Ron Wyden, who championed our position that our workers should not be forced to compete with the Chinese government,” he said.

"We also offer our profound gratitude to the 250 employers and 25,000 workers in the Coalition for American Solar Manufacturing who publicly stood with us through this protracted crisis,” Dulani said. "They can be assured that SolarWorld will not shrink from its obligation to ensure their workers can participate in fierce but fair competition.”

The duties will go into effect around Feb. 1 if the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) affirms that the Chinese and Taiwanese trade practices injured domestic manufacturers. The ITC, which has made three previous affirmative votes in the solar cases, is expected to take its fourth vote on Jan. 20.

About SolarWorld REAL VALUE: SolarWorld manufactures and sells solar power solutions and in doing so contributes to a cleaner energy supply worldwide. As the largest solar producer in the United States and Europe, SolarWorld employs about 3,400 people and carries out production in Hillsboro, Ore., and Freiberg and Arnstadt, Germany. From the raw material silicon to solar wafers, cells and panels, SolarWorld manages all stages of production ? including its own research and development. The company maintains high social standards at all locations across the globe and is committed to resource- and energy-efficient production. Headquartered in Bonn, Germany, SolarWorld was founded in 1998 and its stock has been publicly traded since 1999. Connect with SolarWorld on Facebook, Twitter and www.solarworld-usa.com.