简体中文
The preliminary ruling by the United States on imported photovoltaic (PV) products from China is an abuse of trade remedy measures, China's Ministry of Commerce (MOC) said Wednesday.
The U.S. Department of Commerce on Tuesday set preliminary subsidy rates on Chinese PV products, signaling that it may impose punitive duties on those products.
The department made the preliminary affirmative determination that Chinese producers and exporters of crystalline silicon photovoltaic products should receive countervailing subsidy rates ranging from 18.56 percent to 35.21 percent.
However, an MOC statement said that China was highly discontented with the United States once again trying to levy high duty rates on Chinese PV products after it first imposed duties on those products in November 2012.
The statement quoted an unnamed official as saying, "U.S. restrictions on Chinese products are an abuse of trade remedy measures and have a clear hint of trade protectionism. They will certainly worsen the Sino-U.S. dispute in PV trade."
Chinese PV products have become popular around the world based on superior quality, reasonable prices and good after-sales services, rather than taking advantage of government subsidies, according to the statement.
However, the United States has ignored those facts and used contradictory rules concerning country of origin during the two rounds of investigations, the MOC said.
Resorting to frequent punitive measures will not help solve the endogenous problems of the U.S. solar industry, added the ministry.
"China hopes the United States can be prudent in dealing with the probe and terminate the investigation procedure as soon as possible with a view to promoting healthy competition in the global solar industry," the official said.
The official added that China will pay close attention to the case's development and reserve the right to take measures to safeguard the country's legitimate interests.
