
31 August 2018, News Wires — The European Union will end restrictions on the sale of solar panels from China early next week in a move that EU producers said would lead to a flood of cheap imports.
The European Commission, which coordinates EU trade policy, said in a statement on Friday that the measures would expire at midnight on Monday Sept. 3, confirming a Reuters report on Aug. 24.
The EU first imposed anti-dumping and anti-subsidy measures for Chinese solar panels, wafers and cells in 2013 and extended them by 18 months in March last year, signaling that they should then end.
Chinese manufacturers have been allowed to sell solar products in Europe free of duties if they do so at or above a progressively declining minimum price. If sold for less than that price, they are subject to duties of up to 64.9 percent.
The Commission said it was in the best interests of the EU as a whole for the measures to lapse, given the bloc’s aim of increasing its supply of renewable energy. The measures had also decreased over time, allowing import prices to align with world market prices, it said.
- Reuters