The Coalition for American Solar Manufacturing (CASM) has released an evaluation of U.S. Customs and Border Protection data which the organisation claims shows Chinese manufacturers more than doubled the imports of crystalline silicon solar cells and panels into the country during the latter half of 2011.
CASM says the move was an effort to avoid a potential increase on U.S. government duties on solar components.
Firing another salvo in what has been dubbed a “solar trade war“, CASM is calling on the U.S. Department of Commerce to apply retro-active duties to imports on Chinese solar products.
The Coalition’s investigation, which used publicly-available data from the Customs and Border Protection’s Port Import Export Reporting Service, alleges several instances of supposed malfeasance by a number of Chinese companies.
Further, CASM says their research contains examples of companies stockpiling “dumped and illegally subsidized” Chinese solar imports.
According to CASM spokesman and president of SolarWorld Industries, Gordon Brinser, the ITC and Dept. of Commerce need to take action and stop treating U.S. solar manufacturers unfairly.
“This most recent surge of Chinese solar imports gives the U.S. Department of Commerce the evidence it needs not only to make a preliminary determination in our favour, but also to apply a critical-circumstances finding to address this last-minute import surge.”
CASE, the Coalition for Affordable Solar Energy, has strongly opposed CASM’s claims and says protectionism will drive up the price of solar electricity and negatively impact more than 5,000 American solar companies and over than 100,000 American jobs.
“The potential counteraction from countries being targeted, such as China, against American solar exports would also hurt America’s global leadership in selling solar equipment and raw materials to countries around the world,” states the CASE web site.
CASE has pointed out while CASM’s activities are primarily directed against Chinese solar companies, SolarWorld is a German company.
