China And The US Are In The New Energy War: PV Is Likely To Be Hit Most.

"Booming"

A notice issued by the US trade representative office on October 15th said that under the application of the United Steelworkers union (hereinafter referred to as "USW"), the United States formally carried out a survey of a series of clean energy policies and measures formulated by the Chinese government in accordance with the 301st section of the US trade law.

In a 5800 page survey application, USW accused the Chinese government of providing unfair support for products such as wind, solar energy, batteries and energy efficient vehicles, which led to damage to the interests of relevant US businesses.

The so-called "violation" acts listed include export restrictions, discrimination against foreign companies, import of goods, technology pfer and subsidies to domestic companies.

"The US accusation of China's subsidy is" only state officials set fire to the people and do not allow people to turn on the lights. "

Zhang Guobao, deputy director of the national development and Reform Commission and director of the State Energy Bureau, responded 17 nights later.

Will the investigation that will last for 90 days eventually make China's new energy business lose its way to the US market, or will the Americans lift their own stones?

Among the many industries mentioned by the US side, the impact of China's PV enterprises may be the biggest.

The reason is that China currently has a large number of photovoltaic cells exported to the United States, and the American Association believes that China's cheap batteries and battery components cause us and other foreign companies to shut down factories in the United States and reduce their staff.

According to the statement submitted by USW, the Chinese government has implemented a number of policies on photovoltaic industry since 2007, such as the subsidy to the user side photovoltaic system 50% and the "golden sun project" of 70% subsidy in remote areas, the Interim Measures of the Ministry of Finance on the management of solar photovoltaic building application financial subsidies, and the energy fund of Shandong province.

In fact, in the statement documents, almost all policies and measures to support and support new energy in China over the years are listed by USW as evidence.

USW also believes that the Chinese government has provided a wide range of support to battery manufacturers, including subsidies, tax cuts, concessionary loans, land and other subsidies.

Moreover, the "11th Five-Year" plan since 2006 and the medium and long term development plan for renewable energy also provide corresponding support for technological research and business development of Chinese enterprises.

These subsidies have greatly reduced the battery cost of Chinese companies.

The document even cited the words of Suntech holding chairman and CEO Shi Zhengrong to prove: "Suntech has established a market share in the United States by selling some cheap batteries."

Ouyang Yu said that in the case of slowing development in the European market, the US PV market is indeed a new bright spot, but the volume of exports is not very high.

His Lin Yangxin energy photovoltaic module currently has a capacity of 800 megawatts, and its exports to the United States account for about 1/10 of the company's total exports.

Spearhead directed at wind power equipment suppliers.

USW will also target China's wind power equipment manufacturers.

The document said that because of the Chinese government's subsidies to domestic wind turbines, preferential loans and so on, the import volume of American wind turbines, gear and pmission enterprises to China also shrank sharply.

"From 2006 to 2009, sales of us wind turbines and other products in China shrank by 80%, while the sales of Chinese products such as gears and drives dropped by 65.7% in 4 years."

File representation.

The US side also pointed out that China faces discrimination against foreign enterprises when facing wind power bidding.

Zhang Guobao denied yesterday that "from 2003 to 2005, many foreign wind power manufacturers and Chinese enterprises jointly invited tenders, and they both participated in bidding for Chinese projects, and also passed the bid.

After 2005, the probability of bidding by foreign companies is very small.

The main reason is that their prices are much more expensive than China's. foreign companies are unwilling to bid, but are looking for buyers directly. "

Yesterday, the China Chamber of Commerce for mechanical and electrical products responded to the US move.

The US Chamber of Commerce told our correspondent that the United States has also formulated numerous initiatives and policies to promote and promote the utilization and development of clean energy in China. The US's investigation of China's green industry is neither based nor responsible, and is a typical trade protectionism.

The head of the Fair Trade Bureau of the Ministry of Commerce and import also said that according to China's preliminary understanding, the United States has more than 2300 subsidized projects in the energy sector including clean energy, so the United States has no reason to accuse other countries of their efforts in improving the human environment.

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More thorough than "anti-dumping"

According to the regulations, the United States will collect evidence and investigate the relevant evidence in 90 days, and may consult with the Chinese side.

If the United States believes that a series of allegations are true, the United States will sue the WTO.

Liu Songtao, a lawyer familiar with the WTO regulations and handling similar cases, explained to our reporter that the "301 investigation" case is different from the previous "anti-dumping" case.

"Anti-dumping" mainly refers to the dumping behavior of foreign goods in the domestic market. The Congress adopts boycott measures to protect the interests of local enterprises.

The "301 survey" is based on the premise that other countries' macro policies will lead to damage to US businesses.

"Clause 301 is a fundamental way for the United States to take retaliatory measures."

Liu Songtao said.

The whole process of "301 investigations" is that if the US government believes that China has provided unfair support for the clean energy industry, they will appeal to the WTO expert group to make a conclusion.

If the expert panel's ruling disagrees with the Chinese side, the Chinese side can continue to report to the WTO appellate body.

Assuming that the US side wins the final decision, there are several possible problems. First, the export tax rate of China's large number of clean energy products to the US will be raised.

Secondly, the US side may adopt "cross retaliation", that is, to increase tariffs on new energy sources, and to seek additional tariffs in other industries.

"The whole case has a longer span and may last for 2 years."

Liu Songtao predicted.

USW repeatedly launched trade wars

The new energy policy has always been one of Obama's policy agenda, especially in the United States after the Mexico Gulf oil drilling bombing, the new energy problem is also more important.

If we can not win some benefits for US companies in the new energy market, they will also make their impression on voters less.

After Obama took office, he immediately promoted the implementation of the 2009 recovery and Reinvestment Act. The US government will use $14 billion to support renewable energy projects, and $4 billion 500 million will be spent on retrofit smart grids, $5 billion to improve the cold prevention of family housing, and to allocate about $4 billion 500 million to improve the building energy efficiency of the federal building.

For the Democratic Party, USW, which seems to be antagonistic, is essentially an "canvassing" role.

As the largest trade union in North America, it has at least 1 million 200 thousand members in the United States and Canada, and has great appeal for political elections and government decisions.

Since last year, under the impetus of USW, the Obama administration has passed three years' tariffs ranging from 25% to 35% of China's US tire and the first case against China.

Therefore, the US's investigation of China's clean energy policy is not beyond the expectations of the domestic industry.