The European Trade Commission may propose in May to impose punitive tariffs of more than 30% on Chinese-made solar panels to protect European producers.
Diplomats were quoted by Reuters as EU trade commissioner Carel Degut will propose to impose punitive tariffs on Chinese solar panels at a meeting of EU trade representatives on the 8th and is expected to receive support. According to the relevant EU regulations, the relevant temporary tax measures will take effect before June 6.
However, even if the EU makes a preliminary ruling at that time, there is still room for consultation with China to resolve the issue. If the two sides negotiate successfully, punitive tariff measures of up to 5 years can be avoided.
The European Commission has launched anti-dumping and countervailing investigations on solar panels imported from China, involving Chinese companies exporting to the EU up to 21 billion euros (about 27.6 billion U.S. dollars), which has been described by industry insiders as the largest in EU history "Double anti" cases.
