REC wants action, not tariffs

MOSES LAKE — REC Silicon is urging the Trump administration to keep pressing China to open its market to American-made polysilicate.

“Re-opening the Chinese market to U.S. polysilicon exports is the most important thing that would ensure that high technology solar manufacturing jobs are protected and preserved in the United States,” said an REC statement issued Tuesday.

However, the Norwegian manufacturer with a major plant in Moses Lake does not support the tariffs imposed by President Donald J. Trump on important solar panels on Tuesday.

“We don’t want tariffs,” said Francine Sullivan, REC’s vice president for business development. “They’re bad for all people in the solar sector.”

“Tariffs don’t benefits consumers,” Sullivan added.

What REC needs, Sullivan said, is a “global resolution” of the solar panel dispute.

“The one glimmer of hope in the president’s announcement is a commitment of (U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lightizer) to make a deal,” Sullivan said.

In a short signing ceremony on Tuesday, Trump said he was “directing Ambassador Lightizer to continue supporting industry discussions to resolve duties on these and similar products in the United States and China,” according to a White House transcript.

“I hope he will make good on these indications,” Sullivan said. “We’re a similar product.”

According to a fact sheet released by the U.S. trade representative, U.S. imports of solar panels increased 500 percent between 2012 and 2016, while U.S. producers of solar panels virtually disappeared during the same time.

“China’s industrial planning has included a focus on increasing Chinese capacity and production of solar cells and modules, using state incentives, subsidies, and tariffs to dominate the global supply chain,” the fact sheet says.

REC says it can make polysilicate more cheaply and efficiently in the U.S. thanks to a patented process.

Bankrupt U.S. solar panel producer Suniva filed for relief last year under Section 201 of the 1974 U.S. trade law, claiming predatory practices on the part of the Chinese government virtually destroyed Suniva’s business.

In response to tariffs imposed in 2012 on Chinese and Taiwanese solar panels, the Chinese government imposed retaliatory tariffs on U.S.-made polysilicate, making the product essential for the building of solar panels uncompetitive in the Chinese market.

Charles H. Featherstone can be reached via email at countygvt@columbiabasinherald.com