Commission imposes duties to prevent imports of dumped and subsidised Chinese solar panel components via Taiwan and Malaysia
The Commission recently extended the existing anti-dumping and anti-subsidy measures on imports of Chinese solar modules and cells to Taiwan and Malaysia. The decision follows an investigation that confirmed that the circumvention of the EU trade defence measures was taking place through these countries. The new duties will not apply to genuine producers in Taiwan and Malaysia.
The Commission’s investigation concluded that the measures against solar modules and cells of Chinese origin were being avoided by means of transhipment via Taiwan and Malaysia. To prevent this from continuing, existing anti-dumping and anti-subsidy duties on Chinese solar panels are now being extended to those two countries.
The purpose of the extension is to ensure the effectiveness of the existing measures against Chinese imports. Some twenty Taiwanese and five Malaysian companies will not be subject to any extended duties as they have shown that they are genuine producers and are not engaged in any circumvention activities. This means that EU users of solar modules and cells will still be able to source from them without duties.
The European Commission commends the Taiwanese authorities for its exemplary cooperation during the investigation. A number of legislative and administrative measures have been taken in Taiwan since May 2015, which demonstrate a genuine resolve of the Taiwanese authorities to combat and curb customs fraud and circumvention practices. These efforts constitute a good basis for future cooperation between the European Commission and the Taiwanese authorities going beyond the current investigation into solar modules and cells.
The Commission initiated proceedings to investigate an alleged circumvention on 29 May 2015. Since the day of initiation all imports of solar modules and cells from Taiwan and Malaysia were subject to registration. Therefore, national customs authorities of EU Member States can now collect the duties retroactively for the whole period as of end of May 2015.
