Massive Chinese government subsidies have led to equally massive overcapacity and Chinese manufacturers’ exports to the US, and that in turn’s led to a rising tide of US solar bankruptcies and downsizing at a critical juncture in the global industry’s development, US solar industry leaders and supporters testified. The Commerce Dept.’s much anticipated final determination on duties is right around the corner.
A European Commission decision to impose anti-dumping duties would pose significant problems for China’s silicon PV manufacturers, which now find themselves reeling from debt loads, a precipitous decline in prices (largely of their own making), and slowing demand as a result of the ongoing EU debt crisis and slow economic growth. […]
First Solar’s shifting its strategic focus toward supplying and building thin-film solar power projects in India, as PV cell and panel profit margins continue to be pressured and trade tensions escalate. The Tempe, Arizona thin-film market leader aims to capture 20% of the Indian solar PV market even as critics assert that US government export finance banks are providing low-interest loans to Indian solar power project developers that violate WTO rules on international trade. […]
The membership of CASM, which has field unfair trade petitions against China, has grown to 202 U.S. solar PV businesses employing some 17,000. More than 85% aren’tt solar PV manufacturers– they’re actively providing a full range of solar PV products and services, from solar PV sales and installation and systems integration to product distribution, finance and legal services.
