EU Ends 12-Year Duties on Chinese Solar Glass With No EU Maker Left

• The EU repealed anti-dumping and countervailing duties on solar glass from China on Oct. 22, 2026, after more than 12 years.
• The last two EU producers, GMB and AGC Glass Europe, stopped production in early 2025, leaving no industry for the duties to protect.
• Importers can reclaim duties collected since July 22, 2025, by applying to national customs authorities, without interest.

The European Union scrapped anti-dumping and countervailing duties on solar glass from China on Oct. 22, after finding no EU producer left to protect. The duties had applied since May 2014.

The European Commission set out the decision in two implementing regulations, 2026/2314 on dumping and 2026/2310 on subsidies. Both were published in the Official Journal on Oct. 21. The anti-dumping duties ranged from 17.5% to 75.4%, with a country-wide rate of 67.1%. Countervailing duties ran from 3.2% to 17.1%.

GMB Glasmanufaktur Brandenburg and AGC Glass Europe, the last two EU makers, stopped production in the first quarter of 2025, the Commission found. Neither showed financing, a binding agreement or an operating plan to restart. GMB is part of the Interfloat Group, which requested the reviews. It applied for insolvency on July 4, 2025, its parent Borosil Renewables Ltd. said in an exchange filing.

The solar glass case in numbers

• 12 years and 5 months of definitive duties, from May 15, 2014, to Oct. 21, 2026 (list.solar calculation).
• 84.2% combined duty for Chinese exporters without an individual rate: 67.1% anti-dumping plus 17.1% countervailing (list.solar calculation).
• About 3% of the EU solar glass market was Chinese imports in the year to June 2025, from 30.5% in 2012, the Commission said.
• 12% to 18% is the approximate share of glass in the production cost of a standard solar module, the Commission found.
• €35.3 million was Borosil's exposure to its German subsidiaries as of March 31, 2025, the Indian company said.

Users of the glass, including European module makers, all opposed keeping the duties. With no EU supply, the measures "act de facto as a tax," they argued, according to the regulations. The Commission cross-checked data from two panel producers, Soli Tek Cells and SOLVIS. It concluded that ending the duties would lower their costs without harming any EU producer.

Importers can now reclaim duties collected on customs-cleared glass since the reviews opened on July 22, 2025. Claims go to national customs authorities, which decide on them, and no interest is paid. Module makers will need at least four months to feel cheaper glass in their costs, given production and shipping times from China, the Commission said.