European Union ends import duties on Chinese solar panels

The European Commission has announced that it will not extend existing import duties on solar panels from China. As of Tuesday, after just under five years, the tariffs on Chinese solar panels that are imported into the EU will come to an end.

At midnight on Monday evening, the import duties on Chinese solar panels expire. According to the European Commission, it is in the best interest of the EU not to extend the measures. The Commission says that it has considered the interests of producers, users and importers and that the decision was also taken on the basis of the EU’s sustainability agenda.

On December 2013, tariffs on Chinese solar panels were introduced for the first time, for a period of two years. The levy could rise to 42 percent. With this, the EU wanted to prevent the dumping of solar panels on the European market.

The levies introduced at the end of 2013 were extended for a further 18 months in March 2017, while a five-year extension is normally implemented. According to the Commission, this gradual phasing out of tariffs will lead to the prices of solar panels imported into the EU gradually aligning with global market prices.

The import duties have been litigated at European level. Twenty-six companies say they have suffered damage as a result of the measures, but the European General Court, the second highest EU judge, brushed off all claims in March 2017. For example, the court found that the charges were not disproportionately high in view of the purpose.