Loopholes likely to soften solar panel tariff war
As Beijing looks at tit-for-tat duties against the EU over alleged dumping of solar panel products, analysts say their impact may be limited
Beijing is tipped to launch retaliatory tariffs soon on European-made polysilicon, the raw material for solar panels, after Brussels slapped preliminary duties on mainland-made panels early this month.
However, analysts expect the impact of any tariffs to be limited by likely loopholes.
While the industry fretted that the retaliatory tariffs would hurt mainland panel makers, together with the world's largest producers of solar panels and parts, because they would have to pay more for imported materials, analysts said get-outs were likely to water down the impact. Panel makers have already been suffering from industry-wide losses because of oversupply and sharp falls in product prices.
Glenn Gu, a senior analyst at the American industry consultancy IHS, who is based in Shanghai, said: "IHS believes China is likely to impose anti-dumping tariffs with rates ranging from 30 to 50 per cent on polysilicon imported from the European Union, the United States and South Korea.
"However, the impact of the duties will be mitigated by factors [such as] efforts by buyers and sellers to bypass the tariffs."
Some kind of tit-for-tat move is expected after Brussels imposed a provisional 11.8 per cent import tariff on mainland-made solar wafers, cells and panels, saying that an investigation had found mainland producers had "dumped" products at below-cost prices. The tariff may rise to an average 47.6 per cent on August 7, and will stand for five years, if a mutually acceptable solution is not found.