Late on Tuesday China finally moved to file a complaint with
the World Trade Organization (WTO) regarding the United States’ import tariffs
on solar PV products which it believes violate WTO regulations.
Ever
since US President Donald Trump in January imposed a 30% tariff on imported solar
cells and modules in response to a Section 201 trade case that ran through the
country’s International Trade Commission (ITC), the global solar industry has
been in flux — though this has not been helped by China’s own decision to impose restrictions on its own
solar capacity installations this year.
Similarly, many analysts and experts have been waiting for
China to evaluate the full extent of the trade war the United States has
initiated and decide on a course of action. Other than implementing their own
wide-ranging import tariffs on American goods, China has this week taken the
next step in support of its solar manufacturing industry by filing a complaint
with the World Trade Organization against the United States’ 30% safeguard
tariffs on imported solar cells and modules, as well as the country’s renewable
energy subsidies which, China claims, in concert with the tariffs creates “an
unfair competitive advantage” for US-based companies and damages “the
legitimate rights and interests of China’s renewable energy companies.”
According to a spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of Commerce, “The
measures taken by the United States, both procedurally and physically, are
suspected of violating the WTO Agreement on Safeguards. This act of abuse
of safeguards not only harms the legitimate rights and interests of the Chinese
side, but also affects the seriousness and authority of the WTO rules.”
“While taking safeguard measures against imported PV
products,” the spokesperson continued, “the US side provides additional
subsidies to renewable energy products such as photovoltaics manufactured in
the country, which are suspected of forming import substitution subsidies and
violating national treatment obligations.”
“The above-mentioned violations by the US have seriously
distorted the international market for products such as photovoltaics and
seriously damaged China’s trade interests. The Chinese side’s resort to
the US dispute resolution mechanism is a necessary measure to safeguard its
legitimate rights and interests and maintain multilateral trade rules.”
China’s “Request for Consultations” to the United States WTO
delegation cites numerous issues with the United States’ decision to impose
tariffs, specifically as it pertains to the General Agreement on Tariffs
and Trade 1994 and the Agreement on Safeguards.
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