Be Alert Against "Green Barrier" Impeding Green Efforts

The United States wants to push for a free trade deal for environmental goods at the upcoming APEC meeting, but erecting a barrier against China's solar products will retard its mission and impair global green efforts.

A day before the APEC meeting kicks off in Hawaii, the US government will decide Tuesday whether to launch anti-dumping and countervailing probes on imports of Chinese solar panels and modules which could lead to punitive tariffs of more than 100 percent.

The investigation, if receives green light, will zoom up the fault-finding image of the US government to blame others to cosset its own inefficiency and incompetence.

The US solar industry's global lead is gradually being eroded because of innovation and lower prices of Chinese products. Over the past five years, China's solar product makers have significantly improved their efficiency and research capacity while reducing costs.

China's solar industry has leapt ahead due to intelligence and diligence of Chinese people. Mass producing solar products at reasonable prices deserves applause as doing so contributes to global efforts to reduce emissions and tackle climate change.

However, US solar makers blame China for artificially undercutting prices to gain unfair trade advantages. This is untrue. The low prices are simply an outcome of oversupply.

Chinese producers are paying the price for their miscalculations. One-third of solar manufactures have halted production faced with slumping overseas demand.

As the world promotes the development of new energy, government incentives to support the nascent green industry is indispensable and common practice worldwide.

In 2011, the US energy authority permitted billions of cheap loans to domestic solar firms. India and some European countries also have given local makers priority in purchase deals to boost employment and nurture the industry.

The US solar industry will suffer if it introduces the proposed protective measures. The countervailing duties will allow US solar panel and module makers to take a short breather, but its equipment makers will taste the bitterness of dwindling orders from China, and its solar power station operators will run at higher costs. Without doubt, it will be the US consumers that will pay the price.

Meanwhile, Chinese solar products makers can get around trade barriers. They can buy equipment from Europe and shift their manufacturing to the US A plausible in theory and feasible in practice.

Six out of the seven US companies filed their complaints under the condition of anonymity. Technically, this violates common rules and befuddles China's efforts to find substantiated evidence of the harm caused to the US companies.

It has become a pitiful reality that whenever elections near in some countries, some politicians resort to China bashing with no sound reasons to win votes.

If the United States wants to persuade other countries to lower tariffs on green products at the APEC meeting, it needs to set a good example.

It is time for the US to take a rational approach to avoid any artificial blows to the solar industry still in infancy which could impede the global green drive.