A Cli­mate of Pro­tec­tion: Trade Dis­putes in the Solar Industry

Since 2010 a series of bilat­eral and mul­ti­lat­eral trade dis­putes have emerged in the solar pho­to­voltaics (PV) indus­try. Specif­i­cally, the Euro­pean Union and the United States responded to a rapid rise in Chi­nese import com­pe­ti­tion in solar PV by impos­ing tar­iffs and import con­straints. The Ger­man gov­ern­ment, on the other hand, as well as coun­tries such as Japan sup­ported open trade in solar prod­ucts. Evi­dence shows the PV indus­try was also divided over whether to pro­tect against Chi­nese imports. What explains the dif­fer­ences in national trade pol­icy responses to Chi­nese solar imports? What are the ori­gins of the rise of the new green protectionism?

Speaker: Jonas Meckling, UC Berkeley