The government would explain a recent solar energy product mislabeling incident to the EU in a bid to avoid potential anti-dumping and anti-subsidy tariffs, Minister of Economic Affairs John Deng (鄧振中) said in the legislature in Taipei yesterday.
The EU in May launched an investigation into Taiwanese and Malaysian solar panel manufacturers after Chinese exporters were accused of evading the levies by shipping solar panels to the EU through Taiwan and Malaysia.
One Taiwanese importer has been accused of importing solar panels from China and relabeling the products as “made in Taiwan” before selling them to the EU to avoid tariffs.
Photo: CNA
Answering questions by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Yang Chiung-ying (楊瓊瓔), Deng said that Taiwan had never been involved in any illegal sales of solar energy products to the EU and that the accused Taiwanese importer’s alleged conduct was an isolated, unfortunate case.
Deng said that the government would provide the EU with evidence that shows most Taiwanese solar energy product exporters abide by international trade regulations, adding that the government would not allow outliers to tarnish the reputation of exporters and hurt the nation’s exports.
Premier Mao Chi-kuo (毛治國) said the importer who mislabeled solar energy products made in China would face severe punishment, while the government would try its best to clarify the situation to the EU.
According to a May edition of the Official Journal of the European Union, German firm SolarWorld AG requested the investigation, presenting the European Commission with sufficient evidence that Chinese solar panel exporters used Taiwan and Malaysia to skirt anti-dumping and anti-subsidy tariffs, adding that such practices have “undermined” existing trade measures.
EU ProSun, a SolarWorld-led trade group, estimated that the circumvention had cost the EU 500 million euros (US$558 million) in lost customs revenue.
When the probe was launched in May, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said that the EU was scheduled to complete the investigation in nine months.
Right-wing political scientist Laura Fernandez on Sunday won Costa Rica’s presidential election by a landslide, after promising to crack down on rising violence linked to the cocaine trade. Fernandez’s nearest rival, economist Alvaro Ramos, conceded defeat as results showed the ruling party far exceeding the threshold of 40 percent needed to avoid a runoff. With 94 percent of polling stations counted, the political heir of outgoing Costa Rican President Rodrigo Chaves had captured 48.3 percent of the vote compared with Ramos’ 33.4 percent, the Supreme Electoral Tribunal said. As soon as the first results were announced, members of Fernandez’s Sovereign People’s Party
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) plans to make advanced 3-nanometer chips in Japan, stepping up its semiconductor manufacturing roadmap in the country in a triumph for Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s technology ambitions. TSMC is to adopt cutting-edge technology for its second wafer fab in Kumamoto, company chairman C.C. Wei (魏哲家) said yesterday. That is an upgrade from an original blueprint to produce 7-nanometer chips by late next year, people familiar with the matter said. TSMC began mass production at its first plant in Japan’s Kumamoto in late 2024. Its second fab, which is still under construction, was originally focused on
EMERGING FIELDS: The Chinese president said that the two countries would explore cooperation in green technology, the digital economy and artificial intelligence Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) yesterday called for an “equal and orderly multipolar world” in the face of “unilateral bullying,” in an apparent jab at the US. Xi was speaking during talks in Beijing with Uruguayan President Yamandu Orsi, the first South American leader to visit China since US special forces captured then-Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro last month — an operation that Beijing condemned as a violation of sovereignty. Orsi follows a slew of leaders to have visited China seeking to boost ties with the world’s second-largest economy to hedge against US President Donald Trump’s increasingly unpredictable administration. “The international situation is fraught
DETERRENCE EFFORTS: Washington and partners hope demonstrations of force would convince Beijing that military action against Taiwan would carry high costs The US is considering using HMAS Stirling in Western Australia as a forward base to strengthen its naval posture in a potential conflict with China, particularly over Taiwan, the Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday. As part of its Indo-Pacific strategy, Washington plans to deploy up to four nuclear-powered submarines at Stirling starting in 2027, providing a base near potential hot spots such as Taiwan and the South China Sea. The move also aims to enhance military integration with Pacific allies under the Australia-UK-US trilateral security partnership, the report said. Currently, US submarines operate from Guam, but the island could
RSS