Europe Scraps Duties on Chinese Solar Glass, Allows Refund Claims From July 22, 2025
Key Facts
The European Commission scrapped countervailing and anti-dumping duties on imports of solar glass from China under two regulations published in the EU’s Official Journal on October 21, 2026. The Commission issued the regulations after an expiry review, and they took effect on October 22, according to the Trade and Industry Department of the Hong Kong government. The move removes a trade burden for solar-glass users in the EU after the Commission found no active European production to justify continued protection. The step covered both countervailing duties, scrapped under Regulation 2026/2310, and anti-dumping duties, scrapped under Regulation 2026/2314. Imports of the product concerned from China are therefore subject to the new duty regime from the date the regulations took effect.
The decision followed GMB Glasmanufaktur Brandenburg and AGC Glass Europe halting solar-glass production during the first quarter of 2025. Spain’s Official Gazette said in the text of the EU regulation that the companies had not demonstrated the possibility of resuming production in the foreseeable future. The Commission linked the end of the measures to the absence of an existing domestic production base, a key point in assessing whether the duties still served their purpose. This does not mean Europe has decided to abandon solar-glass production over the longer term; the information in the regulation concerns the halt in production and the lack of evidence that it could resume soon. The finding leaves solar-glass users with an import source free of the previous duties, while the prospect of a return to European production remains unresolved in the published facts.
Interfloat Group requested a review of the countervailing duties on April 19, 2025, on behalf of the EU solar-glass industry, according to the regulation text cited by Spain’s Official Gazette. The review ended with the measures being scrapped rather than extended, after considering the position of European producers and the views of companies that buy the glass. All solar-glass users opposed continuing the duties, saying the measures effectively acted as a tax in the absence of European production. Their objection reflects the argument they presented to the Commission that duties were being paid on a production input for which no active domestic alternative was available. The Commission concluded that users’ interests supported the expiry of the measures, without specifying the savings this could deliver to manufacturers.
Solar glass accounts for about 12% to 18% of the cost of producing standard panels, according to the Commission’s estimate in the regulation. But the effect of scrapping the duties on panel costs will not be immediate; manufacturers may need at least four months to benefit from lower glass costs, according to the same estimate. This period links the removal of the duty on imports to its potential impact on panel manufacturing and the regulation does not specify the final reduction. The decision therefore eases duties for glass users, while the speed and scale of the impact depend on the period estimated by the Commission and manufacturers’ actual input costs. The Commission did not specify a final figure for the reduction in panel costs resulting from the decision.
The repeal also allows claims for refunds of duties collected on goods customs-cleared from July 22, 2025, according to the Trade and Industry Department of the Hong Kong government. Refunds are not automatic; affected parties must apply and receive approval from national customs authorities. This gives importers a route to recover amounts paid during the period covered, with the final decision remaining with customs authorities in each country. The repeal applies to new imports from October 22, 2026, while the refund process concerns duties collected on goods customs-cleared since the earlier date. The two regulations thus end the measures going forward and set out conditions for reviewing duties already collected.