Import duties - a dangerous tranquillizer

摘要

The US solar industry battles import tariff proposais. Two bankrupt manufacturers of solar panels, Suniva and Solar World, are calling for protection under Section 201 of the 1974 Trade Act, which allows for tariffs or other measures to be taken if imports are judged to be a “substantial cause” of “serious injury"to a US industry. Mayer Brown, the US law firm rep-resenting Suniva and Solar World, argues that a ”global surge in low-priced imports has forced US panel manufacturers to eut production, costing thousands of “good paying, full-time jobs”. The Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA), which represents installers and project de-velopers as well as manufacturers, argues that on the con-trary, US imports of panels soared because domestic producers were unable to meet the booming de-mand.