China/US: Discovery spat complicates solar panel anti-dumping suit

A dispute over discover has emerged between now-defunct solar panel maker Solyndra and onetime rivals based in China as the sides continue their anti-dumping lawsuit.

Solyndra is suing various Chinese solar panel makers for alleged product dumping; the defendants, which include Suntech Power, Trina Solar and Yingli Green, are accused of saturating the US market with their products at below-market prices in a conspiracy to gain control of the industry.

But while a federal judge ruled last April that Solyndra’s allegations “are more than sufficient to suggest that defendants reached an agreement to fix prices and flood the American market with their below cost Chinese-made panels for the purpose of stifling competition,” a dispute has since emerged over transparency.

Solyndra has reportedly refused to hand over documents to the defendants that the company had produced and handed to government officials as part of a separate case. While Chief Magistrate Judge Elizabeth Laporte ruled this week that Solyndra does not have to present those documents to the Chinese firms, she did express frustration at the company’s lack of transparency. The judge has given the sides two weeks to come up with a joint proposal to settle the discovery dispute, according to reports.

Full content: The Recorder

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