International Trade Commission Backs U.S. Solar Panel Manufacturing Company

Wednesday, January 21, 2015

Emily Goldman, GoLocalPDX Contributor

Photo Credit: iStock (cropped)

The International Trade Commission ruled in favor of SolarWorld’s claim that Chinese solar companies have been practicing unfair trade in the United States, according to U.S. Senate Committee on Finance.

SolarWorld is based in Hillsboro, Ore and has been the country’s largest solar panel manufacturer for over 35 years.

The result of the ruling is that solar panel manufacturers in China and Taiwan will now be subject to newer, higher tariffs on renewable energy components, namely solar cells.

In 2012, Solarworld requested that the U.S., place tariffs of 24 to 36 percent on Chinese-manufactured solar panels. Chinese companies responded by outsourcing their production to Taiwan. In 2013, SolarWorld filed a suit with the federal government asking the ITC to broaden the tariffs already in place and to extend them to panels made in Taiwan, according to Slate.

An earlier ITC hearing in July 2014 found the Chinese and Taiwanese manufacturers guilty of using illegal foreign government subsidies and dumping solar panels into the U.S. Market, according to a Senate media release.

The practice of dumping occurs when international manufacturers export products at a price far below either the cost of its production or the price charged in their home countries.

Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Ron Wyden (D-OR) has long been a supporter of the rights of U.S. manufacturers against unfair standards favoring foreign companies. He first backed SolarWorld when they filed their trade case and testified in support of the company on December 8, 2014, said Hank Stern, spokesman for Wyden.

“I have never been prouder to stand up for U.S. manufacturing and good-paying Oregon jobs than I am today. The ITC unanimously recognized that China was cheating on trade and U.S. jobs were lost as a result,” Wyden said about the most recent ruling. “This decision proves that strong enforcement of American trade rules can be the difference between saving U.S. jobs or letting foreign firms get the upper hand. To protect American solar jobs, the ITC and Commerce must continue to enforce the trade laws of the United States to the maximum extent provided by law.”

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