Feb 9, 2025 01:10 AM
UK could become 'dumping ground' for Chinese solar panels due to Trump tariffs
https://inews.co.uk/news/politics/uk-dum...TO=newsnow
INTRO: The UK risks becoming a “dumping ground” for Chinese solar panels made with forced labour as shipments are rerouted away from the United States due to Donald Trump’s tariffs on Beijing, The i Paper has been told.
Solar panels in the UK are almost entirely made in China, but US tariffs, counter-levies, and the EU’s renewed efforts to support Europe’s ailing solar panel manufacturers may result in a further influx of Chinese solar panels flooding the British market.
Around 45 percent of solar panels imported into the UK are of Chinese origin, according to HMRC. Beijing also accounts for 80 percent of the current global supply, while another 17 percent comes from Malaysia, Vietnam and Thailand, where Chinese solar firms have set up export hubs.
It comes as a decision is set to be made on a new Chinese embassy in London, which would dwarf the US equivalent in Nine Elms despite espionage concerns and its proximity to a sensitive hub of critical communication cables.
Alicia Kearns MP, the former foreign affairs select committee chair, told The i Paper she was “gravely concerned about how reliant we are on Chinese Communist Party-made energy infrastructure”.
“It puts our energy security at risk, which puts our national security at risk,” she added. “The Chinese Government has bought up the processing of all critical minerals required to make solar panels. I’m not saying we can’t have solar panels coming from China, but overreliance is risky.”
Evan Fowler, from the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China, told The i Paper that China had “invested the bank” in greener technologies like solar panels and electric vehicles and that tariffs brought by the Trump administration may now force China to “offload” elsewhere.
“The UK seems to be a fine place for them to offload what they have,” he said.
The warning comes as the Government pushes ahead with the mass expansion of solar farms, with projects accelerated for approval since Labour came into power last year... (MORE - details)
https://inews.co.uk/news/politics/uk-dum...TO=newsnow
INTRO: The UK risks becoming a “dumping ground” for Chinese solar panels made with forced labour as shipments are rerouted away from the United States due to Donald Trump’s tariffs on Beijing, The i Paper has been told.
Solar panels in the UK are almost entirely made in China, but US tariffs, counter-levies, and the EU’s renewed efforts to support Europe’s ailing solar panel manufacturers may result in a further influx of Chinese solar panels flooding the British market.
Around 45 percent of solar panels imported into the UK are of Chinese origin, according to HMRC. Beijing also accounts for 80 percent of the current global supply, while another 17 percent comes from Malaysia, Vietnam and Thailand, where Chinese solar firms have set up export hubs.
It comes as a decision is set to be made on a new Chinese embassy in London, which would dwarf the US equivalent in Nine Elms despite espionage concerns and its proximity to a sensitive hub of critical communication cables.
Alicia Kearns MP, the former foreign affairs select committee chair, told The i Paper she was “gravely concerned about how reliant we are on Chinese Communist Party-made energy infrastructure”.
“It puts our energy security at risk, which puts our national security at risk,” she added. “The Chinese Government has bought up the processing of all critical minerals required to make solar panels. I’m not saying we can’t have solar panels coming from China, but overreliance is risky.”
Evan Fowler, from the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China, told The i Paper that China had “invested the bank” in greener technologies like solar panels and electric vehicles and that tariffs brought by the Trump administration may now force China to “offload” elsewhere.
“The UK seems to be a fine place for them to offload what they have,” he said.
The warning comes as the Government pushes ahead with the mass expansion of solar farms, with projects accelerated for approval since Labour came into power last year... (MORE - details)