Tariffs? Perhaps your wishes will come true.

[piece-itpete]

This could've gone under current events, the economy, or politics.

.-.-.-.-.-.

The Chinese government Friday condemned a demand by the American solar panel industry for steep tariffs on solar panels shipped to the United States from China.

China accused the American industry of protectionism that could undermine the global economy and harm international efforts to combat global warming. It called for the United States government to reject the industry’s legal filing.

.....

A coalition of seven American companies filed the trade case against China on Wednesday. They accused Chinese manufacturers of obtaining billions of dollars in Chinese government subsidies to help them buy market share in the United States, and of dumping solar panels in the United States at prices that did not fully cover the cost of manufacturing and distributing them.

Their petition to the Commerce Department in Washington and a related federal agency, the International Trade Commission, seeks tariffs “well in excess of 100 percent” to offset dumping, plus additional unspecified tariffs to offset the suspected subsidies.

The coalition responded quickly to the Chinese criticism. “The Chinese government’s claims that our actions are improper and protectionist, and that its illegal subsidies and massive dumping of solar product are helping the global economy and the environment, are absurd,” said Gordon Brinser, the chief executive of SolarWorld Industries America, the lead company in the coalition. “China is one of the biggest trade protectionists in the world. In the solar industry, China is gutting manufacturing and jobs here in America and abroad while China’s solar industry pollutes its own people. The accusations have no basis in fact.”

The United States government has 20 days from the filing of the petition to decide whether to take the case, but the law gives it little discretion to reject it. A preliminary ruling is likely by March on the subsidies claim and by May on the dumping claim.

The Commerce Department and the I.T.C. must use narrow criteria set by Congress that give little discretion to either agency except on the question of whether a domestic industry has suffered significant injury from imports. The American solar panel industry has been laying off thousands of workers and closing factories. If the agencies pursue the case, final rulings could take six months or longer.

The Chinese ministry’s statement barely addressed the substance of the industry’s complaint, mentioning only in passing that Chinese policies were “in line with World Trade Organization rules.”

The ministry also made a clear plea for environmentalists to take its side.

“The development of the solar energy industry is a key measure of the Chinese government to address the challenges of climate change and energy security,” the statement said. “The United States has no reason to criticize other countries’ efforts to try to improve humanity’s environment — rather, it should join together with other countries to strengthen cooperation in the field of solar energy, and join together to face the challenges of climate change and the environment.”

.......

...many environmentalists also advocate the widest possible installation of solar panels as an alternative to burning fossil fuels. And toward that end, Chinese manufacturers have helped drive down the wholesale price of solar panels from $3.30 a watt in late 2008 to $1 to $1.20 a watt now.

....

Chinese companies are not the only ones unhappy about the American solar panel manufacturers’ case. Many American installers of solar panels are hostile. Mike Hall, the chief executive of Borrego Solar, a solar project developer based in Oakland, Calif., said, “One-hundred percent tariffs would have a massive effect, and the market in the U.S. would screech to a halt.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/22/bu...ectionist.html

.-.-.-.-.-.

Tough one for the left, I'd think

Pete

[finnbow]

Lots of interesting points to be made in relation to such actions. So, China is subsidizing its solar industry. OK. What, pray tell, was the Solyndra affair if not a subsidy?

Another point, though unrelated to solar panels. Our government "subsidizes" companies like Boeing through huge Defense contracts that allow them to reduce, relatively speaking, the production costs of civilian airliners. Should other countries therefore apply tariffs to Boeing airliners?

What about companies who are given sweetheart deals by states to (re)locate to their states. Should these deals be treated as subsidies by the WTO?

[piece-itpete]

I agree.

My big problem with China is their fake low exchange rate. It amounts to dumping everything they sell.

What do we do? I dunno.

Pete