China loses solar module to Europe

In just one week, the EU Commission’s registration order for China’s implementation of solar energy products in Europe has indirectly impeded China’s export of solar modules to Europe. Two solar companies operating in Europe have accused it of being the result of frequent false news spread by European companies that initially launched a “double counter” complaint against China.

Ben Hill, president of Trina Solar, a photovoltaic company in China, said in an interview with the newspaper alone on March 14. In the past week, Chinese solar module products were exported to the European Union. Most of them have been forced to suspend, and only a small part can enter the territory of EU member states through customs.

"It happened too quickly and unexpectedly." Hill said, "Trina Solar also has products stuck at the customs." Trina Solar is a solar photovoltaic company headquartered in Changzhou, China. European operations cover Switzerland, Germany, Italy, etc. Six countries.

Ben Hill made the above remarks to this newspaper after attending the industry association meeting in Brussels on that day. He said that it is not the European Commission and the customs department that are blocking imports, but that importing companies are not prepared to bear the losses caused by possible punitive tariffs.

Ben Hill explained that the intermediary companies require Chinese manufacturers or their European customers to pay the bank deposits before releasing them; otherwise they stop importing products from China. The bank deposits are up to 85% of the import value, and most companies are unbearable. "This will almost force all Chinese solar module imports to stop."

Thorsten Preugschas, CEO of the German solar company Soventix, also confirmed the existence of the above situation on the 15th. Tosten added on the phone that he hopes to improve in two to three weeks.

On the 15th, John Clancy, a spokesperson for the European Commission’s Trade Commissioner, Karel de Gucht, told the newspaper on the telephone that the EU is conducting anti-dumping investigations in full compliance with the law. Registration is also a normal practice. Clancy said that he can't comment on the ongoing investigation itself, nor can he comment on the (intermediary) company's behavior.

"Hostile lobbying"

On March 6, the European Commission ordered the customs to perform registration procedures for solar energy products imported from China. This is one of the administrative procedures for anti-dumping investigations. The purpose is to allow the collection of punitive tariffs to be traced back to this month in the future when the final ruling is established.

Import agency companies are concerned about being implicated and bear the economic losses caused by punitive tariffs. In specific trade cases, an intermediary company may be subject to anti-dumping duties. The intermediary company therefore requested additional "margin" to hedge the risk in advance.

Ben Hill alleged that the reason why the agency was so scared was because it was misled by "wrong information." This "error message" is: The European Commission's implementation of the registration order on March 6th means that it must impose a punitive tariff of 85% on China's exports to Europe.

"This wrong message came from the company that originally initiated an anti-dumping complaint against China Solar," Ben Hill said. The company "malicious lobbying", through the industry association EU ProSun, spread false information to media and industry personnel; while most intermediary companies are not experts, it is easy to believe news reports and false materials.

The name of this company is not unfamiliar. The first to launch anti-dumping for solar energy products in China in the United States and the European Union is Solar Solar, a German solar energy company. The comparison of public information on the official website also showed that Milan Nitzschke, head of the market and public relations department of Solar World, is also the chairman of EU ProSun, the industry association organization.

The public information about EU ProSun is incomplete. A Reuters report mentioned that EU ProSun is composed of 25 solar panel companies headed by Solar World. However, EU ProSun did not disclose the membership list. According to official website information, "As a result of serious retaliation against companies that support trade claims, EU ProSun decided to require its members to be anonymous."

Ben Hill said: “Only the European Commission that received the complaint material will know this anonymous list.” At the time of writing, it was unable to contact EU ProSun and asked for comment.

Tosten of Soventix AG in Germany did not like EU ProSun. After attending the European Commission hearing on February 18th, Tosten pointed out in response to this reporter's question that he pointed out that EU ProSun's findings were unfounded and "nonsense."

"According to the regulations"

Another European solar industry association, AFASE, has also had to respond. German company Soventix is ​​a member company. CEO Tosten told the newspaper that some members of AFASE have considered canceling the current supply contract in Europe and assessing the loss. There are more than 160 AFASE member companies that advocate free trade. Except for three Chinese companies, the rest are European companies.

AFASE participated in the hearing held by the European Commission on February 18 and submitted scenario analysis reports under 3 punitive tariffs of 20%, 35% and 60%. The conclusion of the report is that the EU's anti-dumping problems far outweigh the benefits for the EU's own interests. According to Ben Hill, the hearing was very successful.

Ben Hill repeatedly stressed that "the European Commission is just doing things according to the rules," and Tosten is more sensitive to political factors. "We (Europe's photovoltaic companies) have fallen to the bottom of their competitiveness and do not want to bear any political pressure." Tosten said, "In addition to an open market, we do not need anything."

The European Commission launched an anti-dumping investigation against Chinese solar panels in September last year. In November, it began investigating the existence of illegal subsidies. The European Commission will decide, at least three months later, on June 6th whether to impose temporary anti-dumping duties on Chinese products. The deadline for determining the final punitive tariff is December 5, but EU member states are required to vote.

Ben Hill said that there are three decisive factors for the establishment of the final ruling: the persuasiveness of the information data collected by the European Commission, the pros and cons of imposing punitive tariffs on the EU, and the agreement of 27 EU member states.

Hill said that there is currently no estimate of the possible tax rate for punitive tariffs. "There is no similar precedent in the history of the EU." China's exports of solar energy products to the European Union in 2011 amounted to 21 billion euros, so the amount of money involved in the anti-dumping investigation of the European Union is also the largest ever.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who visited Beijing in August last year and answered the Xinhua News Agency’s question in September, said that he hopes to resolve the China-EU dispute on photovoltaic trade. “We hope to have a dialogue, and we have also discussed this matter with the Chairman of the European Commission. This is not only the desire of Germany but also the wish of the European Commission.”

"Germany is just a vote. She also needs the support of other countries." Ben Hill said. At present, it is still not possible to know the size of the products that have been blocked from exporting to Europe due to the indirect impact of the registration procedures so far this week.