|
. | . |
|
by Staff Writers Brussels (AFP) April 29, 2015 European firms on Wednesday accused Chinese solar panel makers of dodging hundreds of millions of euros in import duties and called on the European Union to launch an investigation. The complaint threatens to spark a new flare-up in a long-running row on the issue that Brussels and Beijing only recently managed to damp down. "Up to 30 percent of Chinese solar imports bypass EU import measures through fraudulent circumvention," industry group EU ProSun said. "European industry has already been devastated by illegal Chinese practices and the EU and European governments have lost substantial tax revenues at a time of great need," group spokesman Milan Nitzschke said in a statement. EU ProSun said China was exporting solar modules and cells via Taiwan and Malaysia, passing them off as locally made to avoid EU levies, and it had lodged an official request with the European Commission for an investigation. If found at fault, the Commission could impose heavy anti-dumping duties on the Chinese products concerned, in a repeat of previous bitter disputes between the two giant trading partners. After months of tit-for-tat reprisals involving punitive levies on solar panels and a widening range of other goods, the EU and China called it quits in 2013 and agreed a new minimum price regime for solar panel imports from China. This does not cover all Chinese companies however and there have been repeated complaints by European firms over alleged breaches of the accord which expires at the end of this year. The Commission, the EU's executive arm which polices competition issues, launched an investigation in December into alleged Chinese dumping of solar glass, a key component of solar panels. Estimated at about 210 million euros, solar glass manufacturing is just a small part of the overall market and Commission officials stressed at the time that the probe had nothing to do with the 2013 agreement. EU ProSun has been a fierce critic of Chinese manufacturers who it says have largely destroyed Europe's solar panel industry.
Related Links All About Solar Energy at SolarDaily.com
|
|
The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2014 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. Privacy Statement All images and articles appearing on Space Media Network have been edited or digitally altered in some way. Any requests to remove copyright material will be acted upon in a timely and appropriate manner. Any attempt to extort money from Space Media Network will be ignored and reported to Australian Law Enforcement Agencies as a potential case of financial fraud involving the use of a telephonic carriage device or postal service. |