China, EU agree on minimum price for solar panels

BEIJING, July 28 (Xinhuanet) -- The European Commission said it had reached an agreement with China on Saturday to resolve the long dispute over alleged Chinese dumping of solar panels in Europe.

The two sides agreed to set a minimum price for China’s imports. Both sides are satisfied with the deal. The EU Trade Commissioner called the agreement an "amicable solution", and the Chinese Ministry of Commerce has also welcomed the deal. The agreement will avoid punitive tariffs from August on Chinese solar imports into Europe. The imports were worth 27 billion dollars last year.

Chinese solar panel production quadrupled between 2009 and 2011 to more than the entire global demand, and the European Commission accused China of dumping its solar panels at below the cost of production in Europe.

Starting from June 6th, EU imports of Chinese solar products were subject to a punitive duty of about 12 percent until August 6th, from when the duty would have been raised to about 47 percent if the two sides could not solve the dispute through negotiations.

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/video/2013-07/28/c_132580925.htm