China’s Solar PV Players Ramp Up Overseas Investments
Chinese solar photovoltaic (PV) companies aren’t waiting around for the US International Trade Commission (ITC) and Commerce Dept. to decide whether or not China has been improperly subsidizing the industry and engaging in predatory pricing in the US market – they’ve begun shifting investment overseas.
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US-China trade tensions centered on solar PV industry subsidies have been rising. US ITC and Commerce Dept. decisions on a solar PV cell and module dumping case filed by the Coalition for American Solar Manufacturers (CASM) are due out early this year. This past week, a group of four US wind turbine tower manufacturers formed a coalition called the Wind Tower Trade Coalition filed a similar complaint against Chinese competitors. China solar power market participants have retaliated by filing a complaint with China’s trade authorities claiming that US polysilicon producers are dumping their product in China. China’s also decided to levy import duties on vehicles produced in the US, high-end SUVs in particular.
The outcome of these trade disputes is still up in the air, but it’s clear that Chinese solar PV players have previously formulated contingency plans to mitigate their negative effects. While establishing solar PV manufacturing operations in the US and Europe is one option being pursued, taking equity stakes in existing solar PV producers is a quicker alternative that also creates joint ownership stakes between Chinese, US and European producers in solar PV manufacturing capacity across borders.
http://cleantechnica.com/2012/01/05/chinas-solar-pv-players-ramp-up-overseas-investments/