Chinese solar companies come under greater US scrutiny

NEW YORK, USA: Recently, seven North American solar manufacturers filed a complaint with the Commerce Department and International Trade Commission seeking tariffs of 100 percent or more on low cost Chinese solar panels. Several US solar-equipment manufacturers claim they are being harmed because China's government uses cash grants, discounts on raw materials, preferential loans and tax incentives, and manipulates its currency to boost exports of solar cells.

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Last week, the US Commerce Department announced that it delayed a decision on antidumping duties for Chinese solar-cell imports following three postponements in its separate decision on countervailing duties. Anti-dumping duties apply to goods sold overseas at or below the price in the home country. Countervailing duties seek to offset the benefits of government subsidies to industries, Bloomberg reports.

The postponement follows delays in the agency's determination of countervailing duties. The investigation into China's subsidies for the nation's solar companies has been "extraordinarily complicated," according to a recent notice in the Federal Register.