l'Actualité du Solaire

The EU Council and the European Parliament signed new anti-dumping legislation in Strasbourg on 13 December. The new rules will officially enter into force on 20 December. Milan Nitzschke, EU president Prosun and spokesman for the industry association AEGIS, explains to PV Magazine what these changes mean.

The new rules provide greater legal certainty for anti-dumping measures. On the one hand,

Economic issues are now included in trade defence legislation. On the other hand, China has not been granted market economy status by the European Union in 2016 (15 years after its accession to the World Trade Organisation). This means that Europeans are demanding additional evidence in trade talks to determine whether or not market rules determine prices in China.

Currently, there is an aggressive Chinese policy. Prices in China are determined by government subsidies and regulations. The economy is following five-year plans and state-owned banks are financing overcapacity and dumping prices for exports to foreign markets.

The refusal to grant market economy status allows the EU to protect itself against dumping prices, which would not have been the case if this status had been recognised, leading Europe to see all its industries disappear in favour of China, from steel to equipment manufacturing and the industries of the future. Thanks to the new anti-dumping measures, European manufacturers can now be protected against cheap imports from China. With the new regulation, the legal definition of market economy status will no longer be decisive for the applicability of anti-dumping measures, but rather a comprehensive and up-to-date assessment of the extent to which the economy of the country of origin is distorted by the state.

For PV panels, after a transition period, the new methodology will allow the imposition of tariffs and minimum prices as long as dumping is taking place.

If there is currently circumvention of customs duties by Chinese PV manufacturers for amounts of several hundred million euros and possibly billions of euros, it is because four years ago (in 2013), the European Commission asked the European anti-fraud office to stay out of the investigation. Little by little, more effective controls became possible, but the continuation of dumping has cost European industrialists their existence and the loss of thousands of jobs. Now customs and the public prosecutor have begun their investigations. The change in minimum price regulations in the autumn has increased their investigative capacity. Now, any violation of the minimum import price is subject to criminal prosecution.

The European Commission has announced that it intends to eliminate minimum prices next year. This can be prevented because the new EU rules allow measures to be taken against dumping.

PV Magazine of 14 December 2017

https://www.pv-magazine.com/2017/12/14/eu-provides-more-legal-certainty-with-new-anti-dumping-rules%e2%80%a8-interview/