Australia’s anti-dumping commission has terminated its investigation into alleged dumping of Chinese-made PV modules imported into the country.
Although the commission found evidence of Chinese modules being sold in Australia at dumped prices, it concluded that the injury caused by these actions had been minimal and that it would therefore take no further action.
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The original dumping complaint was lodged early last year by local firm Tindo Solar, which claimed unfair pricing from China was harming domestic Australian manufacturers.
In a report published yesterday, the commission said it had found evidence of dumping, singling out Trina Solar, ET Solar, Wuxi Suntech and ReneSola as the four named manufacturers that had been dumping, at margins of 4, 3, 8.7 and 2.1% respectively.
But based on factors including the small size of the dumping margins and the fact that Tindo offers AC modules, which command a higher price than the imported DC modules, it had decided the impact of the dumped imports was “negligible” and that further action – the imposition of anti-dumping duties – would not therefore be taken.
During the investigation, Tindo had been criticised by other members of Australia's solar industry for not being a genuine manufacturer.
Adrian Ferraretto, managing director of Tindo, told PV Tech: “The ADC has compared the cost of a Chinese DC module to a Tindo AC module and evaluated the delta through the lens of a flawed 4% margin. They seem confused about the technology and have unfortunately erred against Tindo. We are evaluating our next move.”
Commenting on the decision, the Australian Solar Council said: “It is a win for Australian solar PV consumers. It is a win for common sense.”
This article has been updated from its original version to include commentary from Tindo Solar and the Australian Solar Council.