China puts US on notice over solar panel trade curbs ahead of Trump trip
Commerce ministry rejects US trade commission ruling on low-cost Chinese products
Beijing sent a tempered warning to Washington against trade curbs on the weekend after a US agency concluded that imports of Chinese solar panels had hurt two American manufacturers.
China’s Ministry of Commerce called on the United States to “exercise caution” on trade restrictions and rejected the US International Trade Commission’s ruling on Friday that the cheap imports were responsible for the woes of the two companies.
The commission now has two months to review the case and make recommendations, such as tariffs, to US President Donald Trump. If Trump does not take action he could be seen as failing to meet his “America First” protectionist agenda; if he does, it could overshadow his planned trip to China later this year.
In a statement on Saturday, Wang Hejun, director of the ministry’s Trade Remedy and Investigation Bureau, said the commission’s ruling ignored strong opposition from other countries, US state governments, and “downstream” solar enterprises.
Wang said the ruling “has not only increased uncertainty in the normal international trade of solar products but is also unhelpful to the healthy and balanced development of the US’ domestic solar market”.
“We hope the US investigative authorities will strictly follow the provisions of the World Trade Organisation, and exercise caution when using trade restriction measures,” Wang was quoted as saying.