Recently, the European Solar Manufacturing Commission (ESMC), together with 22 other European industry bodies, signed an open letter calling on the EU to strengthen protection against the threat posed by "unfair trade practices" in "non-market economies" to European supply chains. Led
by the European Solar Energy Manufacturing Commission (ESMC) , 23 industry associations in the core industries of Europe, including steel, cement, chemical industry, glass and aluminium, have unified their positions for the first time. There is only one core demand: to immediately and thoroughly upgrade the EU's trade defense instruments (TDIs) to deal with unfair competition from "non-market economies".
The open letter bluntly said that various state-led industrial policies have caused a deep imbalance in global trade. Direct government subsidies, tax incentives and industrial support have led to structural global overcapacity , and policy-supported enterprises have been able to continue dumping low-priced products into the EU market. However, European local enterprises have long suffered from high energy costs and stringent environmental protection and compliance pressures, and the competitive environment has never been so unfair. In particular, the statement stressed that the collective action did not seek trade protection, but demanded a "fair and equal competitive environment", which has been regarded by 23 associations as "a prerequisite for the survival of any industry in Europe".
Although the open letter does not directly name names, it points to China's absolute dominance in the global solar supply chain. A large number of photovoltaic products continue to pour into Europe, and the price has brought a lot of pressure on the cost of European manufacturers. "Solar manufacturers have already experienced first-hand the costs of acting too late," the
European Solar Manufacturing Council's Secretary-General warned in a statement. The reality is that Carbon, a French company that was at the forefront of reviving European manufacturing, has abandoned plans to build a 5G W component plant in France; Although a few projects such as Holosolis are still in progress, the shutdown of photovoltaic factories in Europe, the permanent loss of production capacity and the continuous reduction of jobs have become the norm. The open letter said frankly that the preliminary preparations for the trade case alone lasted for several months, and before the formal investigation was launched, European manufacturers were always exposed to the risk of irreversible losses.
At present, the open letter concludes that there are four specific demands: to supplement people, to speed up, to revise regulations, and to supervise the system.
In response to the current predicament, 23 associations jointly put forward four specific landing proposals, requiring the EU trade policy to fully adapt to the new global pattern:
First, to fill the manpower gap. The European Commission's Directorate General for Trade (DG Trade) has a seriously understaffed trade defense team, which is weak both in terms of absolute size and in terms of benchmarking against major global trading partners. Enriching manpower is "the most critical short-term measure".
The second is to improve the speed and pre-provention and control. It requires more flexible, rapid and preventive use of existing trade defense tools, landing control measures before the formation of irreversible losses in the industry, and achieving full value chain coverage to prevent the transfer of trade chaos among different product categories.
The third is to study new compliance tools . On the premise of conforming to WTO rules, we should deal with the trade distortion caused by policy intervention and its chain spillover effect. This echoes industry calls for a "revision of the WTO rules" on which the EU bases its own norms.
The four is the strategic use of the Foreign Subsidies Regulation (FSR). We should jump out of the limitations of single transaction and single procurement scenario, focus on the long-standing non-market-oriented trade behavior of the whole industry and the whole industry chain, and realize systematic supervision.
Next up: Will the EU flash the AD/CVD new knife? It is worth noting that the EU is currently considering two anti-dumping /anti-subsidy (AD/CVD) requests against solar glass producers.
At the same time, the United States has long used AD/CVD as the preferred means to restrict photovoltaic products in China, India and Southeast Asia. This time, the rare joint statement of 23 industry associations will bring tremendous political pressure to the European Commission. The letter concludes that these measures will give European manufacturing a reasonable chance to compete globally again-otherwise, the "level playing field" will remain a slogan forever. The list of 23 trade associations that
signed the open letter is as follows:
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