Possible Anti-Dumping Settlement

The European Union and China may be close to an eleventh hour settlement over anti-dumping duties before the 6 August deadline, according to a number of reports.

As previously reported, leaked information from negotiators in Beijing with Chinese officials are wanting to replace threatened high tariffs into the EU for Chinese manufactured PV modules with a minimum price per-watt floor, said to be in the range of €0.55/W.

Reports suggest that an even lower figure of €0.54 was being discussed on Wednesday with the possibility that it could fall even lower. Negotiations could also come to a close as soon as Friday.

However, a cap on total capacity shipments and duration of the deal was said to be the continued sticking point in the talks. Apparently, the cap on shipments is being debated at around 60% of EU consumption rates, well below the claimed 80% figure of consumption Chinese module suppliers had before imports started to be registered for duties in March 2013.

The report also noted that the European Commission wanted a deal to be done two weeks before the August deadline; with that clearly gone a ‘freeze’ on imports could be implemented for a short time.

Additional press reports in China have claimed that 66 Chinese PV firms were promised that negotiators would not settle for a price higher than €0.57/W.

The China Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export of Machinery and Electronic Products (CCCME) made the promise in a letter dated 19 July. The Chinese negotiations team in the talks is composed of CCCME staff and a contingent from the Ministry of Commerce.

The commission has refused to provide any details on the status of the negotiations while they have been ongoing issuing a holding statement to press saying “both sides seek an amicable solution”.

Chinese negotiators flew home on Monday night and were happy to close-off the final details remotely.