Brussels - The European Union agreed Monday to impose anti-dumping duties on Chinese solar panel importers who breach a deal reached with Beijing this year.
EU members agreed to apply the tariffs from Friday, for a two-year period, on all suppliers who do not meet the conditions of the compromise deal, the European Commission said.
Under the deal, struck in August, 70 per cent of Chinese solar panel suppliers would set a price floor and limit exports through the end of 2015.
The 28-member bloc has accused China, the world's largest producer of solar panels and related products, of illegally undercutting prices.
China exports about 20 billion euros (27 billion dollars) worth of solar products to the EU each year.
In June, the EU's executive raised a provisional levy of 11.8 per cent on Chinese solar panels and their key components, such as wafers and cells, while setting a December 6 deadline to reach a final decision.
The move follows a 15-month anti-dumping investigation and a 13-month probe into suspicions that Beijing is unfairly subsidising solar panel producers.
“The commission found that Chinese companies were selling solar panels in Europe at far below their normal market prices and were receiving illegal subsidies, causing significant harm to EU solar panel producers,” the bloc's executive wrote.
In a separate development last week, the commission decided to impose anti-dumping duties on Chinese manufacturers of solar glass. - Sapa-dpa