WASHINGTON – The Coalition for Affordable Solar Energy (CASE), today released the following statement in response to the Department of Commerce preliminary determination in the countervailing duty (CVD) investigation of imports of certain crystalline silicon photovoltaic products from the People’s Republic of China (China):
“We are deeply disappointed in today’s preliminary determination ruling on countervailing duties by the Department of Commerce, which assesses tariffs of up to 35% on imports of solar products from China and expands the categories of solar products subject to duties. The ruling is a major setback for the entire U.S. solar industry because it will immediately increase the price of solar power and cost American jobs in one of fastest-growing sectors of the U.S. economy.
“By accepting SolarWorld’s request to expand the scope of the solar dispute, although they are continuing to entertain scope comments, the Department of Commerce is disregarding decades of legal precedent that define scope by applying the ‘country of origin’ and ‘substantial transformation’ trade rules. The use of SolarWorld’s proposed scope is also fundamentally inconsistent with the Department’s own previous ‘scope’ determination in the 2012 solar cell dispute.
“Today’s announcement is just the first determination in a legal process which is set to drag on throughout this fall, taking its toll on the industry with every step. At a time when the U.S. solar industry is primed to continue its record-breaking growth and began 2014 recording the second largest quarter for solar installations in history, U.S. solar businesses now find themselves collateral damage to litigation which is increasing module costs and freezing future investment through pricing uncertainty.
“This is a global dispute that will not be resolved through litigation alone. The best path forward continues to be a negotiated settlement between the U.S. and Chinese governments to end this dispute and create the conditions for growth. But to achieve this, SolarWorld must come to the table and work with the industry to find a settlement that benefits the entire global supply chain. We ask the White House to help by convening the parties for true negotiations, and we urge SolarWorld to make its conditions known and join the rest of the U.S. industry in support of the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) proposal.”
