By Keith Bradsher | The New York Times
HONG KONG — Trade negotiations between the European Union and China ended on Monday with mutual recriminations. China called on the European Union to refrain from imposing tariffs on solar panels, and the European trade commissioner complained that China was pressuring individual countries to prevent Europe from reaching a consensus.
The European Union accuses Chinese firms of selling solar panels below cost in Europe, a practice known as dumping, and has already proposed antidumping tariffs of nearly 50 percent on Chinese solar panel shipments. That is one of the largest categories of Chinese exports to Europe and worth about $27 billion a year.
But Germany’s economy minister said that his country had informed the European Commission, which is the executive branch of the European Union, that it opposed proceeding with the solar panel tariffs. If a majority of the European Union’s 27-member states oppose tariffs during the current consultation period, then the commission could be forced to abandon the tariffs. But that could risk undermining the commission’s long-term ability to negotiate trade deals on behalf of the bloc.
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