Following up on our coverage of the US-China solar trade case, it seems only fair to present the responses of the two most-affected Chinese solar companies — Suntech, currently the world’s largest solar panel producer, and Trina Solar.
Here’s Suntech’s response:
“These duties do not reflect the reality of a highly-competitive global solar industry. Suntech has consistently maintained a positive gross margin as revenues are higher than our cost of production. We will work closely with the Department of Commerce prior to their final decision to demonstrate why these duties are not justified by fact,” said Andrew Beebe, Suntech’s Chief Commercial Officer.
“As a global company with global supply chains and manufacturing facilities in three countries, including the United States, we are providing our U.S. customers with hundreds of megawatts of quality solar products that are not subject to these tariffs,” continued Mr. Beebe.
“Despite these harmful trade barriers, we hope that the U.S., China and all countries will engage in constructive dialogue to avert a deepening solar trade war. Suntech opposes trade barriers at any point in the global solar supply chain. All leading companies in the global solar industry want to see a trade war averted. We need more competition and innovation, not litigation,” continued Mr. Beebe.
And here’s Trina Solar’s statement:
“Trina Solar’s innovation and globalization has helped to create great value for our stakeholders,” said Jifan Gao, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Trina Solar. “Current market conditions illustrate precisely why we have been conservative in the past, and why we place a priority on building a strong balance sheet. We believe that the quality of our panels and the strength of our team will ensure that we continue to serve the US market for the long term.”
“We remain committed to the very close relationships we have developed in the US solar industry and will continue to deliver industry leading solutions together with these customers,” added Mark Kingsley, Chief Commercial Officer of Trina Solar. “Our primary objective remains to sustainably drive down total installed per watt cost through the use of our proprietary high-efficiency module know-how in combination with industry best practices on balance of system cost optimization. This is simply what is required to unlock the next level of fossil fuel replacement in the United States. Any duties are short-sighted impediments to this worthy goal.”
Kingsley concluded, “We intend to strongly defend with data our position that these duties are unwarranted and serve as an impediment to the broader adoption of solar energy in a time of rising fuel costs. As a forward-thinking global company, we will continue to assess our options to most effectively serve all of our markets, including our growing business in the United States.”
Image: Nevada Solar Power Plant via Suntech
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