US and EU trade sanctions against Chinese solar PV cells: a blow for solar power and sustainable development

By John A. Mathews

US and (potential) EU trade sanctions against Chinese solar panel producers will only benefit a handful of domestic panel producers, and will inflict great damage on the rest of the solar power industry in the US and EU, argues John A. Mathews, professor of global strategy at the MGSM Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia. Worse, they threaten to block the sensational cost reductions that have been going on in the global solar sector, ultimately hurting developing countries the most. "The contrast between the narrow calculations displayed in these trade actions, and the broader concerns over sustainable development and mitigation of global warming, is stark indeed", concludes Mathews.

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