China slams protectionist US tariffs on solar panels

China rejected a US decision to slap steep final duties on solar panel imports from China on Thursday and urged Washington to drop its trade remedies to avoid hindering development of new energies.

"The US is igniting trade frictions in the renewable energy sector, sending a negative signal to the world about trade protectionism and hindering development of new energy," Shen Danyang, a spokesman for the Ministry of Commerce, said in a statement on its website Thursday.

The US decision not only runs against global efforts to fight climate change and shore up energy security, but also breaches its commitment of not introducing new trade protectionist measures made at the G20 summit, Shen said.

Shen urged the US to scrap its trade remedy measures on Chinese solar panels as soon as possible.

The US Department of Commerce announced Wednesday final anti-dumping duties on solar panel imports from China. It followed claims China was "dumping" imported solar panels at prices 18.32 percent to 249.96 percent below fair value.

In a statement sent to the Global Times Thursday, leading Chinese solar panel manufacturer Yingli Green Energy said it would be subject to an anti-dumping tariff of 15.42 percent and an anti-subsidy tariff of 15.24 percent.

"Unilateral trade barriers will not make any one company more competitive, but will make solar less competitive against other forms of energy generation," Suntech Power, another Chinese solar panel maker, quoted E.L. "Mick" McDaniel, managing director of Suntech America, as saying in a statement posted on its website Wednesday.

For the latest decision to take effect, the US International Trade Commission (USITC) must determine whether imports from China are hurting US companies in the sector, with a vote expected in November.

"The US' decision means most Chinese solar panel exporters to US will receive around 30- to 40-percent tariffs. Such a high rate means the US market has shut its door to most Chinese solar panel makers, resulting in a huge loss," Tu Xinquan, associate director of the China Institute of World Trade Organization Studies at the University of International Business and Economics, told the Global Times.

The US imported an estimated $3.1 billion worth of solar cells and panels from China in 2011, according to the US Commerce Department.

"At this stage, the focus of Chinese solar panel makers is not defending themselves but rather figuring out ways to get out of this plight, such as finding out new markets," said Wang Yuehai, executive secretary-general of the China New Energy Chamber of Commerce.