European Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht is convinced that China systematically manipulates its prices to drive European manufacturers of solar cells and panels out of business. But ever since he announced that he would soon be issuing his decision, China has been openly threatening a trade war with Europe.
De Gucht is undeterred. On Tuesday, he announced that the European Commission is introducing a two-month period of low-level tariffs for all solar panels from China at a level of 11.8 percent. In August, however, the penalties will skyrocket — to between 32.2 percent and 67.9 percent depending on individual companies’ willingness to cooperate. He said the two months of low tariffs provide “a window of opportunity for the Chinese to negotiate.”
h/t peterj
The Euros are not going to enjoy being bitch slapped by the Chinese.
Good news for Boeing . . .
The giant Chinese economy may be relatively fragile but it has a monolithic aspect that I would bet on against the EC with its built in fracture lines of national interests. In the long run Europe may be better off if losing a trade war with China breaks the stranglehold of the Eurocracy. Yes, “Faster” indeed.
(When I moved back to Canada in 1999 after 15 years in England it was mainly because I missed things here, but what I saw for Britain in the future of European integration meant there was no longer much of what it ever had to offer in contrast to the New World.)
The idiots think they can blackmail the Chinks?? Mind you….they probably have a deal for kick backs with the chinks.
I ask again: why are we trading with these people? How are we advancing democracy in this Third World dictatorship whose vassal state, North Korea, continues to string everyone along? Solar panels? Really?
If I was Karel De Gucht right now I wouldn’t go to any manufacturers’ conventions any time soon. Probably every European CEO wants to beat the living snail-snot out of him.
PV solar is as dirty or perhaps even dirtier than the oil sands.
It’s not economically feasible to produce PV solar in North America. The labor costs in North America are prohibitively expensive and North American environmental regulations which keep our air, water and land from being heavily polluted don’t exist in Asia, so nearly all of the PV production is over there where they can pollute and keep their production costs low. The electricity to run their PV solar factories comes from dirty coal and the factories dump pollution into the environment. The same goes for their wind turbines.
The U.S. produces 20% of the world’s GHG emissions, and 27% of that comes from toxic polluting coal-fired electricity. China produces ~24% of the world’s GHG emissions, and about 40% of that comes from toxic polluting coal-fired electricity. Only half of China’s coal burning is for electricity, and toxic pollution controls in China are practically non-existent.
Canada only produces 2% of the world’s man-made GHGs and the oilsands only produce 5% of Canada’s total emissions.
The Oilsands produces one tenth of one percent [0.1%] of the world’s GHG emissions.
It’s a waste of time to use logic, common sense or math to make a point with Canadian tree huggers. It’s all way over their heads. They are under the impression that if they can shut down all industry here, they will save the planet. Facts could hurt their feeling and the CHRC is always on the lookout for that.
I don’t buy solar panels from them or anyone else.
Some Norinco guns look like good value, though. Especially if one ever has to use them in a resistance to Chinese occupation forces.
Solar panels are the plan B bastard offspring
pushed by the Globull Warming scamsters and
cultists after they were finally convinced the
generators built to run on unicorn farts and
pixie dust needed another thirty years of huge
government grants for breakthrough research.