US to Impose High Tariffs on Chinese PV Products, Taiwanese Manufacturers May Benefit, says TrendForce

The U.S. Department of Commerce announced to impose countervailing duties (CVD) on certain Chinese PV cells and modules, hitting Trina Solar with rate of 18.56%, Wuxi Suntech with 35.21% and all others with 26.89%. EnergyTrend forecasts a beneficial result for Taiwanese manufacturers because this phase’s tariffs are higher than the tariffs imposed on 2012. However, the CVD ruling can be regarded as a preview of what may follow with the anti-dumping case ruling, indicating the possibility of even higher anti-dumping duties.

According to EnergyTrend’s research, quotes of PV modules exported from China to USA are between US$0.61~0.71/watt, while quotes of modules exported from Taiwan to USA range from US$0.74~0.81/watt. With a huge price difference of US$0.1~0.13/watt, Taiwan-manufactured modules cost  14%~21% higher than China-produced modules. Nonetheless, Chinese modules no longer have the competitive costs advantage in the US market after the imposed CVD . Adding on the tariffs of previous CVD determined in 2012, Taiwanese modules could take advantage of this situation.

Moreover, the preliminary ruling of anti-subsidy is deemed as a general direction for the anti-dumping ruling in late July. The conclusion of CVD represents that the U.S. government accepted CASM’s petition. Hence, Taiwanese manufacturers, unlike the original sense of optimism, have become more conservative towards the potential rates of anti-dumping duties. Regardless of whether the U.S. DOC completely accepted SolarWolrd’s petition or will set greater limitations on Chinese cells and modules, Taiwanese and Chinese manufacturers have to reconsider their future trade strategies in response to the future developments.

This Week’s Quotes

First-tier manufacturers of poly-Si wafers reduced the price to US$0.991/piece, representing a 0.6% drop. Quote of mono-Si wafers slightly dropped 0.25% to US$1.202/piece due to slower steps of stock clearance. Regarding PV cells, first-tier manufactures continue to reduce the prices of mainstream products, and this resulted in a 1.6% drop to this week’s US$0.37/watt. Quotes for crystalline silicon modules dropped 1.48% to US$0.601/watt because of sufficient supply, while the first-tier manufacturers are highly aggressive in their quotations. If this situation continues, next week’s quote of modules may fall below the US$0.6/watt level.