US industrials take spill in solar flare-up

By Ed Crooks

Earlier this year the US decided to impose two sets of duties on imports of Chinese solar cells; a move that it confirmed, with some adjustments, earlier this month. Now it is becoming increasingly clear – as this excellent piece from the FT’s Leslie Hook points out – that the Chinese solar industry is in deep trouble: a “patient on life support”, as one policy-maker puts it.

So US industrials should be rejoicing, right? Well, no. Not if you are DuPont, Dow Chemical and 3M. This week all three US chemical companies said their earnings have been hit by the downturn in the solar industry, especially in China.