Wuxi Suntech calls for an end to US-China solar trade disputes

WUXI, CHINA: In a call to unite a financially battered industry, Eric Luo, the CEO of Wuxi Suntech, warned that unless the trade issues between the USA and China are resolved, the PV industry would dramatically shrink.

He said: "The real danger we're facing as an industry is not if a Chinese or American company goes bankrupt but if the entire industry value chain collapses. China can manufacture high-end panels at truly competitive prices, but it cannot replace inexpensive, high quality American silicon, or a talented American workforce which would be the first to suffer from a spike in prices of solar energy."

Luo's statement comes as a backdrop to the decision by the Department of Commerce to select Wuxi Suntech, along with other solar energy giants, to conduct an administrative review of its existing antidumping rate on its US sales of Chinese-origin photovoltaic cells.

Echoing a call by Rhone Resch, president and CEO of the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA), Luo called for the adoption of the proposed settlement where the United States would revoke the AD/CVD orders on solar cells and modules, in exchange for monetary contributions by the Chinese solar manufacturers toward a US-based Solar Manufacturing Settlement Fund.

As the Chinese solar industry representative to the EU-China anti-dumping negotiation deal, alongside the China Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export of Machinery and Electronic Products (CCCME), Luo has accumulated vast experience in China's solar trade disputes.

In a statement on the issue he added: "The selection of Wuxi Suntech by the DOC reflects not only our influence in the US market but also, I hope, a way for us to lend support in resolving this matter quickly. As a leader of a company which was shaken up by the sudden drop in prices of solar modules, I can share my American competitors' concerns over extreme price declines, but I also need to highlight the greater risks of industry instability - which the current trade disputes are contributing to.

"China has significant environmental challenges which the government is trying to meet. It has an ambitious goal for its renewable energy mix which is both bringing down the price of PV modules and helping many markets reach grid parity. We are keen to work closely with our American stakeholders to assure that developments made in the Chinese PV industry complement those made in the US PV industry."