MOFCOM Announcement No. 52, 2012 on Final Conclusion on the Trade Barrier Investigation against Part of the Support Policies and Subsidies for the U.S. Renewable Energy Industry

September 20, 2012 - 16:28 BJT (23:28 GMT)   MOFCOM

Issued by: Ministry of Commerce of the People’s Republic of China 
Announcement No. 52, 2012 
Date of Issuance: August 20, 2012 

In response to the application by China Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export of Machinery and Electronic Products and China New Energy Chamber of Commerce under All-China Federation of Industry & Commerce and in accordance with the Foreign Trade Law of the People’s Republic of China and the Investigation Rules on Foreign Trade Barriers formulated by the Ministry of Commerce, the Ministry of Commerce released Announcement 69, 2011 on November 25, 2011 and determined to carry out an investigation against part of the support policies and subsidies for the U.S. renewable energy industry. 

The Ministry of Commerce released annual Announcement No. 26, 2012 on May 24, 2012 to announce the preliminary conclusion of the investigation and concluded that part of the support policies and subsides for the U.S. renewable energy industry violated relevant provisions of the WTO and constituted the trade barrier described in Article 3 of the Investigation Rules on Foreign Trade Barriers, namely “violate the economic and trade treaty(ies) or agreement(s) jointly concluded between or jointly participated by such country (region) and China, or fail to fulfill the obligations provided under the economic and trade treaty(ies) or agreement(s) jointly concluded between or jointly participated by such country (region) and China”. 

After the preliminary conclusion was released, the Ministry of Commerce continued to carry out an investigation against the consistency of part of the support policies and subsidies for the U.S. renewable energy industry with relevant provisions of the WTO. The investigation is completed. Final conclusion on the issue that whether the investigated part of the support policies and subsidies for the U.S. renewable energy industry constituted trade barrier is drawn in accordance with the investigation results and the provisions under Article 31 of the Investigation Rules on Foreign Trade Barriers (see Appendix). It is hereby to announce the related matters as follows: 

After the investigation, the Ministry of Commerce concluded that the “Renewable Energy Cost Recovery Incentive Program” of Washington, U.S., the “Commonwealth Solar II Rebates” of Massachusetts, U.S., the “Wind Production and Manufacturing Incentive Program” of Ohio, U.S., the “Renewable Energy Incentive Program” and “Renewable Energy Manufacturing Incentive Program” of New Jersey, U.S. and the “Self-Generation Incentive Program” of California, U.S. constituted the prohibited subsides under Article 3 of the Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures of the WTO, violated relevant provisions under Article 3 of the Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures and Article 3 of the 1994 General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade of the WTO, distorted the international trade and constituted the trade barrier described in Article 3 of the Investigation Rules on Foreign Trade Barriers. 

The Ministry of Commerce will, in accordance with the provisions under Article 33 of the Investigation Rules on Foreign Trade Barriers, take relevant measures and require the United States to cancel the content of the investigated measures which is inconsistent with the relevant provisions of the WTO and fairly treat the renewable energy products from China. 

Appendix: Final Conclusion by the Ministry of Commerce of the People’s Republic of China on the Trade Barrier Investigation against Part of the Support Policies and Subsidies for the U.S. Renewable Energy Industry 
 

Ministry of Commerce of the People’s Republic of China 
August 20, 2012 
 

(Translated by Liu Jia) 
 

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