Steep tariffs cannot save European manufacturers

The European Commission agreed on Wednesday to slap a hefty 47-percent punitive tariff on solar panels imported from China in an effort to save Europe's struggling photovoltaic industry, but the protective approach would only lead to an unintended disaster.

For years, the EU countries have spearheaded global efforts to develop clean energy and outshined other countries as they put up more solar panels on the roofs of homes and businesses.

Their clean energy initiative, a laudable contribution to the worldwide campaign against global warming, may suffer as consumers cancel their orders when they can no longer buy Chinese panels about 40 percent cheaper than European goods.

"The solar business is very price-sensitive ... If prices are artificially increased by punitive tariffs, the European solar market would simply come to a standstill," Wouter Vermeersch, head of the Belgian company Cleantec Trade, said in a statement Wednesday.

Economy wise, the steep tariffs could seriously divide and debilitate Europe's solar businesses. Companies that build and install solar panels share a large part of the EU's value-added chain. Their steep revenue losses and forced job cuts will undermine the vitality of the whole solar sector, adding to Europe's thorny economic problems.

On the surface, the European Commission is accusing China of allegedly exporting solar panels at below-cost prices and using illegal subsidies to crowd out European competitors to corner the market.