China made it clear Monday that it will retaliate if the European Commission insists on playing hard ball with the country’s beleaguered solar panel industry.
“If the E.U. insists on imposing duty orders on Chinese exports and severely hurts the interests of Chinese manufacturers, the Chinese government will not stand by. We have no choice but take any measure to protect the lawful rights of Chinese businesses,” Chong Quan, deputy international trade representative with the Ministry of Commerce was quoted saying in China Daily today.
“Once again, we call on the E.U. to seriously consider China’s suggestions as well as the appeal from enterprises from the EU’s upstream and downstream solar industry to cautiously use trade remedy measures. We hope the dispute can be resolved through negotiations,” Chong said.
The European Commission is considered imposing trade tariffs on China solar panels, saying the industry is subsidized and undercuts the European solar panel sector. For all its subsidies — and China does subsidize solar to some degree — one of the largest solar panel makers recently filed for bankruptcy.
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