Importers of Solar Panels from China

Duties later this year may be applied
retrospectively to cover imports from April 2013 – The latest important development is that the duties may be
applied retrospectively before the coming into force of the provisional duties.
From 6 March the European Commission started keeping registration of such
imports in the EU in case it decides to impose provisional duties and apply
them retrospectively – 90 days before the coming into force of the provisional
duties. rent estimate).

This whether or not the purchase order was made in advance of this
date. Even though the retrospective application of the duty is not guaranteed
there is a very high probability this is applied.

Background

GRTU had informed members in a
consultation meeting back in November 2012 that the European Commission had
initiated investigations on instances of anti-dumping and anti-subsidy on
imports of solar panels originating from China. The products subject to
registration are classifiable under the following Combined Nomenclature (CN)
codes: ex 3818 00 10, ex 8501 31 00, ex 8501 32 00, ex 8501 33 00, ex 8501 34
00, ex 8501 61 20, ex 8501 61 80, ex 8501 62 00, ex 8501 63 00, ex 8501 64 00
and ex 8541 40 90.

Timeline

If the Commission investigation concludes that the situation
is leading to injury of the EU industry and that the imposition of measures
does not go against overall Community Interest, provisional measures will be
implemented within 9 months of the initiation of the investigation (6th June 2013 for anti-dumping measures and 5th August
2013 for anti-subsidy measures). If the Commission decides on imposing definite
measures, anti-dumping measures will be imposed on 5th December 2013 and anti-subsidy measures would be imposed
on 7^th February 2014.  These would be applicable for 5years.

Tariffs

The exact level of any tariff that may be imposed by the EU
is not known but the tariff will aim either to remove the effects of dumping
the imported goods in the EU or to remove the injury caused by the dumping,
whichever is lower. The amount of duty imposed, either provisionally or
definitively, should not exceed the margin of dumping. i.e. the Council may
impose a tariff that levels out the cost of the imported goods (subject to the
dumping tariff) and the goods produced in the community that have been
adversely affected by the dumping. However, if a lower duty would be sufficient
to remove the injury caused to the community industry, then a lower duty should
be imposed. The duties are paid on importation in the EU and are at valorem and
the same in the whole of the EU, but may vary from Chinese manufacturer to
manufacturer or amongst Chinese exporters.

According to the Commission Regulation, the allegations in
these investigations estimate the amount of 60 to 70 per cent for dumping and
10 to 15 per cent for subsidisation (meaning 60 per cent to 85 per cent in
total by cur