TrendForce: ITC Files the Case, Taiwanese Manufacturers Need to React Carefully and Accurately

ITC today announced that Taiwanese and Chinese PV products exported to the U.S. have caused substantial damages to the U.S. PV industry. Henceforth, DOC will take over the following administrative processes and announce the anti-subsidy and anti-dumping tariffs by the end of March and mid-June, respectively.

“The point to the filing is that DOC can continue to probe the anti-dumping and subsidy issues. The result doesn’t make a huge difference to Chinese and Taiwanese PV industry because this is what manufacturers had expected. What really matters is DOC’s investigation results,” said Arthur Hsu, research manager of EnergyTrend.

EnergyTrend’s data shows that Taiwan’s cell shipment was around 6.5GW in 2013, in which the first six largest export countries were China, Japan, Germany, U.S.A., Malaysia, and UK, representing 83% of the total shipment in 2013. Although the shipment to USA only accounted for about 5%, most of the cells exported to China were actually indirectly shipped to the US. From such point of view, demand from the U.S. market truly represented about 50% of Taiwan’s total shipment last year. In SolarWorld’s petition, Taiwanese manufacturers were only accused of dumping. Therefore, how Taiwanese PV manufacturers defend themselves against real dumping, or against being imposed high anti-dumping tariffs, will be the main issue for them and the Taiwanese government.

“Judging from previous cases, anti-dumping duty usually presses manufacturers into severe challenges,” said Hsu. “As the investigation result will profoundly affect Taiwanese and Chinese manufacturers’ future strategies in the U.S. market, Chinese makers have already turned to the Chinese government for further supports to eliminate potential harm as much as possible and maintain Chinese manufacturers’ best interests in the U.S. market.” Thus, it’s not surprised that Yingli and Hanwha SolarOne want to act as Taiwanese manufacturers’ respondents in this case. Moreover, it’s not difficult to tell how solitude Taiwanese PV industry is compare to the immediate, careful and accurate reactions taken by both the Chinese manufacturers and the Chinese government. EnergyTrend believes that DOC’s anti-dumping probe will definitely affect Taiwanese PV industry in the future. As a result, institutes should react more carefully and accurately to ensure the best interests in the U.S. market.