China offers quota for solar panel export to EU

BEIJING - Agence France-Presse

China offers a quota for its solar panel exports to the European Union. AFP photo

China has offered a quota for its solar panel exports to the European Union, state media reported on July 5 with the two sides embroiled in a series of trade disputes.

But the amount is less than 20 percent below total Chinese exports last year, and conditional on their being taxed at low or zero rates, the Shanghai Securities News said.

The two economic giants are in negotiations after the EU last month imposed an average anti-dumping tariff of 11.8 percent on solar panel imports from China. The tax will rise to more than 47 percent next month if no deal is reached.

Brussels and Beijing are also involved in a series of disputes covering other products ranging from steel pipes and telecom equipment to wine and chemicals, sparking fears of a trade war.

China offered to cap its annual exports of solar components to the EU at 10 gigawatts, or half of the country’s yearly output, the newspaper said, citing Wang Sicheng, a researcher with top economic planning agency National Development and Reform Commission.

But shipments within the quota should be either tariff free or low rate, it said, and those over the limit taxed “according to relevant rules”.