NewsGerman chemicals maker Wacker Chemie and China's Ministry of Commerce (MOC) have agreed a minimum pricing deal as a solution to trade friction concerning polysilicon, a key material for making solar cells, the MOC announced on Thursday.
Under the deal, the MOC will not apply anti-dumping and anti-subsidy tariffs on polysilicon produced by Wacker Chemie, provided the company sells material produced in its European plants above a minimum price in China.
The agreement came nearly two months after the MOC ruled that solar-grade polysilicon from the European Union (EU) had been dumped in the Chinese market and had also received unfair subsidies.
The ministry launched the probe on Nov. 1, 2012 in response to requests filed by Chinese polysilicon manufacturers amid an import surge and price decline of European products.
"Wacker Chemie signed and submitted a price undertaking letter to the MOC on March 14, and at that point the anti-dumping and anti-subsidy case was properly resolved," the ministry said in a statement on its website.
The pricing deal was the result of a month of intensive consultation between the company and the MOC starting from Feb. 12.
The pricing agreement conforms to China's trade remedy laws and World Trade Organization regulations, and is able to guarantee a market for fair competition, according to the MOC.
The EU and Chinese solar panel makers last July agreed a similar pricing deal to solve a solar panel trade dispute.
The statement quoted an unnamed MOC official hailing the polysilicon agreement as an indication that China and the EU have the wisdom and capabilities to manage and control bilateral trade frictions.