SYDNEY, Mar 25: Australia will decide within weeks whether to follow the United States and Europe by imposing tariffs on solar panels imported from China, after Australia’s only manufacturer accused Chinese rivals of selling below cost to steal its customers.
After an 11-month investigation into Chinese solar panel imports, the Australian Anti-Dumping Commission told Reuters it would publish preliminary findings on April 7, with a final recommendation on whether to impose the charges due on May 19. Chinese solar panels account for 80 percent of the panels in Australia, a business worth about A$500 million ($393 million) a year to Chinese manufacturers, according to Australia’s only solar panel manufacturer, Tindo Solar. The United States, Europe and Canada have in recent years imposed tariffs on Chinese solar panel imports, winning the support of manufacturers but angering China, major domestic retailers and installers which rely on cheap goods in large quantities to stay profitable.
Selling goods overseas at a loss to take business from local suppliers, or ‘dumping’, is legal according to the World Trade Organisation but authorities can charge tariffs if an industry can prove it has been damaged by the practice. Adelaide-based Tindo Solar said it hoped the commission recommended tariffs based on its claim that it had been forced to cut prices to compete with Chinese imports. ‘It’s stunted our growth,’ Tindo Managing Director Adrian Ferraretto told Reuters.
‘We are survivors, we’re tenacious, but our potential can’t be realised as quickly as it otherwise could be.’ The commission said in a Feb. 11 report of its meeting with one of four Chinese manufacturers it investigated, Zhejiang-based, New York-listed ReneSola Ltd, that the exporter was selling to Australia at a discount of 0.3 percent. The regulator only considers recommending anti-dumping tariffs if goods are being imported at more than 2 percent below cost price.
In a submission to the investigation, Tindo accused ReneSola of providing incomplete data and said the United States, European Union and Canada had found evidence that the exporter was dumping with discounts of 78.42 percent to 9.14 percent. ReneSola’s Australian sales have grown from $3 million to $55 million from 2011 to 2013, according to its latest annual report. ReneSola Australia was not immediately available for comment. In a submission, the China Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export of Machinery and Electronic Products denied the dumping of solar panels.
It said Tindo produced panels using a less popular technology than its Chinese rivals.
(AGENCIES)
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