The European Commission has launched an anti-dumping probe against Chinese solar panel makers. The panel makers have allegedly been selling their product at prices below market value. With Beijing threatening retaliation against European wines and industrial materials, this could signal the start of a new trade war with China.

According to the New York Times, the case “follows a series of bankruptcies and factory closings by European solar manufacturers” in recent years. “The complaint lodged with Brussels came from a consortium of some 20 European producers responsible for a quarter of EU manufacture of panels,” writes The Guardian, adding that an EU source has called it "the most significant anti-dumping complaint the European Commission has received so far".

The British daily continues —

Last year China, which accounts for two thirds of global production, exported solar panels worth €21 billions to the EU, some 80% of exported panels. The market is huge. In the span of a few years, China has become the world's biggest solar panels producer, while the EU is by far the biggest market for the Chinese products.

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The probe threatens to be extremely contentious and highly sensitive politically. The German government, enjoying a trade- and exports-based "special relationship" with China, is wary of incurring Beijing's wrath, although the complaint has been spearheaded by German firms.

The commission has pledged to deliver a provisional verdict on the dispute, which could result in the imposition of temporary tariffs on Chinese goods, as early as June 2013. EU governments will then have to decide how to proceed on the basis of the final verdict expected in early December 2013.

The Guardian reports that Beijing has lobbied hard against the probe and the announcement has triggered anger. China Daily warns that China would retaliate with trade curbs on the EU if Brussels goes ahead with the investigation. Beijing's official English-language newspaper adds —

China expressed "deep regret" over the European Commission's decision […] claiming it will harm the development of the global clean energy industry.

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