EU announces tariffs on Chinese solar panels

European Union has said it will impose levies on Chinese solar panels, despite German opposition to the course of action. Brussels has complained that China is dumping subsidized products on the European market.

The European Commission said it would begin to apply a provisional staggered system of duties on Chinese solar imports, in anticipation of possible talks with Beijing.

EU Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht said that an average levy of 11.8 percent would be applied from June 6, with the levy rising to 47.6 percent on August 6, unless a solution could be agreed.

The EU accuses China of subsidizing the solar products, the European Commission claiming that panels were being sold at 88 percent below cost price. 

The industry association EU ProSun says China now holds about 80 percent of the EU market, with European companies having suffered in the face of the cheaper Chinese imports.