The U.S. Commerce Department called Wednesday for increased tariffs on Chinese solar exporters, handing another win to SolarWorld in the company’s fight against competition it decries as unfair.

The agency recommended higher U.S. duties on Chinese solar cells and panels, responding to subsidies by Beijing. For the tariffs announced Wednesday to stand, the U.S. International Trade Commission must determine in a decision next month that manufacturers including SolarWorld have been harmed by U.S. imports of under-priced Chinese goods.

Commerce officials decided to keep retroactive tariffs on Chinese companies to cover an export surge. But the agency declined to close a loophole allowing Chinese companies to avoid tariffs by shifting some manufacturing to other countries. SolarWorld plans to launch proceedings to close the loophole, said Ben Santarris, a  spokesman for the company.

"The duties are helpful and they are significantly higher this time around," Santarris said. "We are disappointed that they decided not to close the loophole that they created."  

SolarWorld Industries America employs about 900 workers in Hillsboro making solar cells and panels, or modules. The subsidiary of a German company leads a coalition of U.S. solar manufacturers who say the Chinese government illegally subsidizes competitors that export cells and panels at unfairly low prices to corner the global market.

The trade fight has split the U.S. solar industry, pitting manufacturers against installers who benefit from inexpensive panels. Tariff opponents also include U.S. manufacturers of polysilicon, the raw material used to make solar cells, who worry that China will slap duties on their product in retaliation for the duties.

SolarWorld's Coalition for American Solar Manufacturing contends that China's predatory trade tactics have undercut manufacturers in the United States and Europe, forcing several into bankruptcy.

To offset China's subsidies in response to the coalition’s trade complaint, the Commerce Department initially set tariffs of up to 4.73 percent on Chinese solar products entering the United States. The agency's decision Wednesday would set anti-subsidy tariffs at 14.78 percent for products made by Suntech Power Holdings Co., 15.97 percent for Trina Solar and 15.24 percent for all other Chinese manufacturers, said Greg Stanko, a coalition spokesman, in an email after initially reviewing the announcement.

In May, the agency levied additional preliminary tariffs of between 31 percent and 250 percent, finding that Chinese companies were "dumping" products in the United States at predatory prices. Those anti-dumping duties would not change as much as the anti-subsidy tariffs, Stanko wrote.

An opposing industry group, the Coalition for Affordable Solar Energy, says tariffs will claim U.S. jobs and drive up prices, hurting solar energy's ability to compete with fossil fuels. On Wednesday reacting to the announcement, the coalition described the latest tariff increases as insignificant.

“We are gratified that the scope of today’s decision is limited only to solar cells made in China and that the department did not significantly increase the tariff from its preliminary decision in May," said Jigar Shah, president of the coalition, in a news release.

But Santarris, of SolarWorld, maintained the tariff increases were significant -- up by nearly 12 percentage points in the case of SunTech, the world's largest maker of solar panels. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., said he was concerned, however, by the loophole cited by the company.

“I am glad the administration intends to act against cheating by Chinese solar producers, but fear today’s ruling leaves a loophole that will enable these companies to sidestep the impacts," Wyden said in a news release. "That gap exempts panels from tariffs when only a small portion of panels is made outside of China.”

-- Richard Read    twitter: ReadOregonian