Beijing, Jul 19 (IANS): China, the world's biggest solar- module maker, has said it will impose provisional anti-dumping duties on imported solar-grade polysilicon from the US and South Korea.
Polysilicon is a material consisting of small silicon crystals.
Starting July 24, Chinese importers of solar-grade polysilicon from the US will be required to pay deposit rates with Chinese customs ranging between 53.3 and 57 per cent, depending on the dumping margin, reported Xinhua citing the commerce ministry in a statement Thursday.
Importers from South Korea will have to pay deposit rates ranging between 2.4 and 48.7 per cent, it added.
"After preliminary investigations, we found exporters in the United States and the ROK (South Korea) dumped their products on the Chinese market and caused material harm to China's domestic solar industry," the ministry said.
Last October, the US government imposed anti-dumping and countervailing duties on crystalline silicon photovoltaic cells from China.
The commerce department said Chinese producers and exporters sold solar cells in the US market at dumping margins ranging between18.32 and 249.96 per cent, and they received countervailable subsidies of 14.78 to 15.97 per cent.
Solar-grade polysilicon is an important material for making solar cells.
Wang Bohua, secretary general of China Photovoltaic Industry Alliance, said the ministry's decision reflected its different approaches in dealing with solar disputes with the US and the European Union (EU).
In June, the EU imposed an interim anti-dumping duty of 11.8 per cent on imports of all Chinese solar panel products, including panels, cells and wafers.
If both sides fail to come to an agreement, the duty will be raised to an average of 47.6 per cent two months after it went into effect. The two sides are trying to negotiate in the hope of averting the final ruling becoming an actuality.
The ministry launched similar probes into polysilicon from EU in November. Wang said the ministry's decision on Thursday revealed its leniency towards EU imports.