Following U.S. Department of Commerce’s preliminary ruling in countervailing duty tariffs on certain Chinese PV products, EU ProSun, the European solar industry initiative, submitted documentation to European Commission (EC) this week, claiming that some Chinese manufacturers have violated agreed minimum price negotiation.

"EU trade rules are being systematically violated by Chinese manufacturers. Not one Chinese manufacturer seems to follow the agreed minimum prices for imports into the EU,” said Milan Nitzschke, president of EU ProSun. “Dumped Chinese solar products continue to flood the EU market, destroying European industry and jobs. The Commission must act fast to stop these violations and implement sanctions."

The EU started imposing anti-dumping duties on Chinese PV imports in mid-2013. In order to circumvent these duties of around 50%, over 100 Chinese manufacturers agreed a minimum price offer of 56cent/watt. However, EU ProSun claims that they found Chinese companies are neither paying duties, nor observing the minimum price agreement. Accordingly, the organization decides to raise a new petition to EC and accuses that China dumped PV panels to Europe with lower prices than agreed.

According to EU ProSun, the majority of Chinese companies use shady middlemen for these deals who work as a buffer between the Chinese companies and the European authorities. Nitzchke explains that Chinese manufacturers “never cease to trick, deceive and circumvent their own undertaking and EU rules” and describes the agreement “unworkable.” EU ProSun asks EC to start a new phase of investigation to solve the illegal and flagrant trade violations. If EC accepts this petition and confirms violations, Chinese manufacturers may again need to face high tariffs.