Canadian Solar Inc. (the “Company” or “Canadian Solar”) (NASDAQ: CSIQ), one of the world’s largest solar companies with a global supply-chain and manufacturing facilities in Canada and China, today announced that the U.S. Department of Commerce (“DOC”) issued a final determination to impose antidumping duties (AD) of 15.42% and countervailing duties (CVD) of 15.24% on crystalline silicon photovoltaic cells made by Canadian Solar in China, whether or not assembled into modules.
The DOC also confirmed the scope of the trade investigation was limited to silicon photovoltaic cells made in China whether or not assembled into modules, and upheld its opinion on critical circumstances which imposes retroactive CVD/AD up to 90 days from the date of the preliminary determinations issued on March 20, 2012 and May 17, 2012, respectively.
The U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) is currently conducting a separate investigation to determine the extent of economic injury and critical circumstances, before the above described duties can be implemented. A final decision by the ITC is expected on November 7, 2012.
“As one of the largest solar companies in the world, with a global supply-chain and manufacturing facilities in two continents, Canadian Solar has consistently adhered to fair trading practices,” said Dr. Shawn Qu, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Canadian Solar. “Over the past several quarters we have maintained a laser focus on initiatives to reduce our manufacturing cost to meet the competition in the global solar energy market place. We have benefited from the decline in our raw material costs, especially silicon, and also from improvements in our cell conversion efficiencies, and from economies of scale, which combined have contributed to Canadian Solar securing its position as one of the world’s lowest cost manufacturers of solar photovoltaic modules.”
“Our efforts have contributed to making electricity generated by solar photovoltaic modules more competitive with fossil-fuel alternatives worldwide. Bringing down the price of solar modules has been critical to expanding solar installations in the U.S. so we can reduce the use of fossil fuels, and reduce reliance on imported oil. Lower solar module prices in the U.S. have also contributed to employment growth; the U.S. solar industry now employs more than 100,000 workers, with the vast majority employed in downstream positions in project development, logistics, construction and installation, which directly benefit from lower solar panel prices,” continued Dr. Qu.
“While we are disappointed with the DOC final determination, we will continue to defend our position with the ITC ahead of its final determination in November. We will also remain committed to the U.S. solar energy market, leveraging our global supply-chain to provide fairly priced solar energy solutions, to support our employees, partners and customer base,” concluded Dr. Qu.
