Bankrupt U.S. solar company seeks new tariffs on cheap imports

Shunfeng International Clean Energy

26/04/2017 22:11

By Nichola Groom 
    April 26 (Reuters) - Bankrupt U.S. solar panel maker Suniva 
on Wednesday asked federal trade officials to recommend new 
duties on imported solar products to combat a global oversupply 
of panels that has depressed prices and made American producers 
unable to compete. 
    The company, which was founded in Georgia but sold a 
majority stake to Hong Kong-based Shunfeng International Clean 
Energy  1165.HK  in 2015, filed a rare Section 201 petition with 
the U.S. International Trade Commission nine days after seeking 
Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. 
    The petition is the latest trade dispute to plague the U.S. 
solar industry.  
    The U.S. arm of Germany's Solarworld AG  SWVKk.DE  succeeded 
twice since 2012 in convincing the U.S. to set duties on solar 
products from China and Taiwan, albeit through a different 
federal process. 
    Because of those duties, manufacturers have shifted 
production of solar panels destined for the U.S. market to other 
countries in Asia. Suniva's petition would apply to solar cells 
and modules manufactured in any nation. 
    If successful, the petition could drive up the price of U.S. 
solar systems, harming project developers and installers. 
    The U.S. solar trade group, the Solar Energy Industries 
Association, said it opposed the petition. 
    "One of the things that's tough is how much uncertainty 
there is in this process," said MJ Shiao, director of research 
at research firm GTM Research. "You don't know necessarily what 
the price is going to be." 
    Worldwide, solar panel manufacturers are grappling with a 
more than 30 percent drop in prices since early 2016. 
    Suniva's debtor-in-possession financing from SQN was 
contingent in part on filing the Section 201 petition. 
    Under Section 201, Suniva must convince the ITC that the 
U.S. industry has suffered "serious injury" because of imports. 
If it does, then the Commission could recommend relief measures 
to the president such as tariffs or volume limitations. 
    President Trump would make a final decision on whether to 
provide relief and, if so, what type. Final approval from the 
president is a key difference in the Section 201 process 
compared with prior solar trade cases. 
    Suniva is seeking a duty rate of 40 cents per watt on solar 
cells and a floor price on modules of 78 cents a watt for the 
first year, levels unseen since 2012 on imported Chinese 
modules, according to GTM Research. 
    "Without today's requested global safeguard, the U.S. solar 
manufacturing industry will die," Suniva Executive Vice 
President of Commercial Operations Matt Card said in a 
statement. 
 
 (Reporting by Nichola Groom) 
 ((nichola.groom@thomsonreuters.com;)) 
 
Keywords: USA TRADE/SUNIVA