German government: no punitive duties for polysilicon imports to China

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The German Federal Ministry of Economics on Thursday reiterated earlier statements that China would not raise punitive tariffs on imports of polysilicon from the European Union.

"To our knowledge, there will be no Chinese punitive tariffs on European polysilicon imports to China," Economics Ministry spokesman Stefan Rouenhoff told pv magazine.

"Negotiations between the EU and China regarding the EU anti-dumping and anti-subsidy cases against solar panels from China are continuing. The aim of the Federal Ministry of Economy is to continue to contribute to an amicable solution between the EU and China," Rouenhoff said, adding that the ministry was employing "different levels of dialogue with its Chinese counterparts."

The German Economics Ministry's latest comments follow at least one Chinese media report that claimed Beijing had not made a commitment to not impose anti-dumping duties on polysilicon products from the EU. The report cited an unidentified source close to China’s Ministry of Commerce who was responding to German media reports of an agreement on the polysilicon issue between German economics minister Philipp Rösler and Chinese minister of commerce Gao Hucheng.

Meanwhile, pv magazine has learned that a Chinese delegation is in Brussels this week for further negotiations on the EU’s anti-dumping tariffs on Chinese crystalline photovoltaic imports after an EU delegation spent three weeks in Beijing.

Helene Banner, the spokesperson for EU trade commissioner Karel De Gucht, told pv magazine on Wednesday that negotiations were continuing.

In June, the European Commission approved a phased introduction of punitive anti-dumping tariffs of 11.8% on Chinese PV imports to Europe despite loud opposition by a majority of EU member states and much of the European PV industry.

China has been considering imposing duties on polysilicon from Europe and the U.S. for months. China's Ministry of Commerce launched an investigation into European imports of solar grade polysilicon late last year, just weeks after the European Commission began its inquiry into alleged anti-dumping practices by Chinese manufacturers.

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