U.s.-china Relations In Clean Energy, Wind Energy And Solar Energy Subsidies Policy Analysis

This thesis focuses on the ongoing World Trade Organization (WTO) dispute DS419 where the United States accuses China of unfair trade-distorting subsidies for its wind energy sector. This paper explores the validity of the case by examining Chinese and American subsidies in the context of this investigation and international regulations.By analyzing wind and solar energy subsidies in a comprehensive literature review, this paper provides significant insight into current US-China clean energy relations. The paper also contains empirical discussion on the limitations of the following in accurately measuring the quantitative economic impact of wind and solar photovoltaic (PV) energy subsidies:international regulations; available economic measures and methodologies; available data.After a comprehensive review of literature and relevant topics, this paper finds that the US WTO case against the Chinese wind industry is not that strong for a variety of reasons, among them the fact that the US wind industry hasn’t been significantly harmed by the Chinese industry and that the inherent characteristics of wind energy production favor domestic suppliers. This paper also identifies China’s solar PV industry as possibly being more in breach of international regulations, due to the status of China’s solar PV industry’s as a major exporter and the alleged prevalent presence of implicit subsidies in China.