The Ministry of Economic Affairs yesterday said it would help local solar companies deal with a US anti-trust investigation, adding that Chinese firms cannot represent Taiwanese companies in the investigations.
The ministry’s statement came after several solar-cell manufacturers on Thursday asked the government for help after learning that their Chinese rivals had applied to the US government to act as their legal representatives in the case.
“By rule, Chinese firms are not eligible to act as legal representatives of their Taiwanese counterparts in an anti-dumping investigation,” Bureau of Foreign Trade official Chen Wen-cheng (陳文誠) said by telephone.
Neo Solar Power Corp (新日光) president Sam Hong (洪傳獻) and several other local solar-cell makers met with ministry officials on Wednesday night to discuss the Chinese companies’ move, Chen said.
Hong is also the chairman of the Taiwan Photovoltaic Industry Association (台灣太陽光電產業協會).
Last month, German photovoltaic product vendor SolarWorld AG filed a complaint with the US International Trade Commission (ITC) and the US Department of Commerce, asking the authorities to conduct anti-dumping and anti-subsidy investigations into several solar-cell manufacturers, including Taiwan-based Neo Solar Power and Motech Industries Inc (茂迪).
In an earlier complaint filed in 2012, SolarWorld only targeted Chinese solar-cell makers.
On Dec. 31 last year, SolarWorld AG filed another complaint with the ITC and the commerce department asking the authorities to close a loophole in trade remedies issued more than a year ago.
The loophole enabled Chinese producers to circumvent duties averaging 31 percent by assembling modules from cells manufactured in third countries, SolarWorld said in a statement.
Chen said the ministry would submit an official request to the ITC stating that “Chinese solar-cell makers cannot speak for their Taiwanese counterparts.”
“Taiwanese companies should be able to safeguard their own interests, and not by foreign companies,” he said.
The Taiwan Photovoltaic Industry Association yesterday said that its members are strongly opposed to the Chinese companies’ move.
“We have to safeguard our own interests by talking directly to the US officials, rather than through our Chinese peers,” an association official said by telephone yesterday.
“The Chinese firms could make concessions at the expense of Taiwanese companies,” said the official, who requested anonymity.
The association said it had set up a special task force to deal with the US investigation.
Local market researcher TrendForce Corp said it is highly likely that Taiwanese makers of solar wafers, cells and modules would be found guilty of dumping and hurting the interests of US solar firms in the initial ruling scheduled later this month.
Taiwanese firms could face high punitive duties on solar exports to the US in subsequent rulings scheduled next month and in June, TrendForce said.
Beijing’s continued provocations in the Taiwan Strait reveal its intention to unilaterally change the “status quo” in the area, the US Department of State said on Saturday, calling for a peaceful resolution to cross-strait issues. The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) reported that four China Coast Guard patrol vessels entered restricted and prohibited waters near Kinmen County on Friday and again on Saturday. A State Department spokesperson said that Washington was aware of the incidents, and urged all parties to exercise restraint and refrain from unilaterally changing the “status quo.” “Maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait is in line with our [the
EXTENDED RANGE: Hsiung Sheng missiles, 100 of which might be deployed by the end of the year, could reach Chinese command posts and airport runways, a source said A NT$16.9 billion (US$534.93 million) project to upgrade the military’s missile defense systems would be completed this year, allowing the deployment of at least 100 long-range Hsiung Sheng missiles and providing more deterrence against China, military sources said on Saturday. Hsiung Sheng missiles are an extended-range version of the Hsiung Feng IIE (HF-2E) surface-to-surface cruise missile, and are believed to have a range of up to 1,200km, which would allow them to hit targets well inside China. They went into mass production in 2022, the sources said. The project is part of a special budget for the Ministry of National Defense aimed at
READY TO WORK: Taiwan is eager to cooperate and is hopeful that like-minded states will continue to advocate for its inclusion in regional organizations, Lai said Maintaining the “status quo” in the Taiwan Strait, and peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region must be a top priority, president-elect William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday after meeting with a delegation of US academics. Leaders of the G7, US President Joe Biden and other international heads of state have voiced concerns about the situation in the Strait, as stability in the region is necessary for a safe, peaceful and prosperous world, Lai said. The vice president, who is to be inaugurated in May, welcomed the delegation and thanked them for their support for Taiwan and issues concerning the Strait. The international community
COOPERATION: Two crewmembers from a Chinese fishing boat that sank off Kinmen were rescued, two were found dead and another two were still missing at press time The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) was yesterday working with Chinese rescuers to find two missing crewmembers from a Chinese fishing boat that sank southwest of Kinmen County yesterday, killing two crew. The joint operation managed to rescue two of the boat’s six crewmembers, but two were already dead when they were pulled from the water, the agency said in a statement. Rescuers are still searching for two others from the Min Long Yu 61222, a boat registered in China’s Fujian Province that capsized and sank 1.03 nautical miles (1.9km) southwest of Dongding Island (東碇), it added. CGA Director-General Chou Mei-wu (周美伍) told a