Tim Brightbill Comments on China's Growing Share of Solar Market

Tim Brightbill, a partner in Wiley Rein's International Trade Practice, was quoted by The Washington Post for a major story on China's growing share of the U.S. and global solar market, as China has used dumped pricing and multi-billion dollar government subsidies to become the world's largest solar producer.

The article reports that Chinese solar cell and panel makers are facing possible tariffs of 100 percent or more as the Commerce Department and the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) weighs antidumping and countervailing duty charges filed by Wiley Rein on behalf of the U.S. solar industry.  In a unanimous vote on Dec. 5, the ITC found that Chinese imports are "materially injuring the domestic industry."

The U.S. industry has provided evidence that as Chinese import volumes surged, pricing in the U.S. market fell 40 to 50 percent in the last 12 months.  "China is not pricing its products to make money," said Mr. Brightbill.  "It's pricing its products to try to dominate this market."

The article goes on to report that "China supplies nearly half of U.S. solar panel imports - 44.6 million units in the first eight months of the year, up from 3.8 million in 2008, according to an antidumping petition filed by a group of U.S. firms. Those sales rocketed to $1.69 billion through August of this year from $233.3 million in 2008."

To read the article, please click here.