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March 06. 2013 10:52PM
NASHUA - Contrary to what many might have you believe, the trade imbalance in the energy market between China and the U.S. is in the United States' favor, according to a new Pew report.
Officials from Bloomberg New Energy Finance and Pew Charitable Trusts discussed Advantage America: The U.S.-China Energy Technology Trade Relationship in 2011 on Wednesday during a webinar along with Hoil Kim, vice president, general counsel and secretary of Nashua-based GT Advanced Technologies.
During the webinar, Kim argued that the lack of a clear U.S. government policy on clean energy trade is taking what could be a economic boon to American businesses and making it merely robust.
As it stands, the Pew report states that in 2011 there was a $1.6 billion trade surplus with China in clean energy technologies totaling $8.5 billion. Nathaniel Bullard, a clean energy and China analyst who works in Hong Kong for Bloomberg News Energy Finance, said 2011 is the latest year for which data are available.
GT Advanced Technologies employs 500 people worldwide and 200 people in facilities in Nashua, Merrimack and Massachusetts, and supplies essential parts and materials to manufacturers, many of which are in China, that build solar panels.
While the report is clear that trade between the U.S. and China for completed solar panels is one-sided in China's direction, the materials and equipment needed to build those solar panels mostly come from the United States, resulting in the trade imbalance in America's favor.
Kim said his company is active worldwide, and provides many of the clean energy technology producers in China and other countries with parts and materials.
Phyllis Cuttino, director of the clean energy program at Pew, said it was the organization's contention that America will remain an industry leader in clean air technology because of American innovation.
"The drum we have been banging is that we have been seeing we have clear advantages in innovation, but we need to continue to innovate," Cuttino said. "We need (increased government funding) for research and development, which at the level it is now is as low as it was in the 1970s. It needs to increase if we are going to boost this sector of a part of our economy we clearly have a significant stake in."
The clean energy sector needs steady policy from the federal government that provides it with the certainty it needs to invest and grow, Cuttino said. Specifically, he said it would be good for the economy if the government increased tax credits for clean energy technologies and worked to expand markets overseas.
Bullard added that along with solar, America enjoys a positive trade imbalance with China for wind energy and smart technology trade.
Pew is a nonprofit dedicated to accelerating America's transition to clean energy for both national security and environmental benefits. Cuttino said Pew boasts a strong research arm, and that Bloomberg News was asked to help conduct the research for the report due to its access to needed information.
Cuttino, Bullard and Kim all agreed there is a worry in the clean technology industry that politicians in the federal government will look at how China is exporting completed solar panels and get the wrong impression of the industry.
"There are incorrect assumptions about what is going on in the energy market," Kim said, who added that those incorrect assumptions and uncertainties create concerns in the financing sector "and the inaction of the United States government in this area has certainly been a significant contributor."
bklein@newstote.com
Study finds U.S. comes out ahead of China in energy trading
Officials from Bloomberg New Energy Finance and Pew Charitable Trusts discussed Advantage America: The U.S.-China Energy Technology Trade Relationship in 2011 on Wednesday during a webinar along with Hoil Kim, vice president, general counsel and secretary of Nashua-based GT Advanced Technologies.
During the webinar, Kim argued that the lack of a clear U.S. government policy on clean energy trade is taking what could be a economic boon to American businesses and making it merely robust.
As it stands, the Pew report states that in 2011 there was a $1.6 billion trade surplus with China in clean energy technologies totaling $8.5 billion. Nathaniel Bullard, a clean energy and China analyst who works in Hong Kong for Bloomberg News Energy Finance, said 2011 is the latest year for which data are available.
GT Advanced Technologies employs 500 people worldwide and 200 people in facilities in Nashua, Merrimack and Massachusetts, and supplies essential parts and materials to manufacturers, many of which are in China, that build solar panels.
While the report is clear that trade between the U.S. and China for completed solar panels is one-sided in China's direction, the materials and equipment needed to build those solar panels mostly come from the United States, resulting in the trade imbalance in America's favor.
Kim said his company is active worldwide, and provides many of the clean energy technology producers in China and other countries with parts and materials.
Phyllis Cuttino, director of the clean energy program at Pew, said it was the organization's contention that America will remain an industry leader in clean air technology because of American innovation.
"The drum we have been banging is that we have been seeing we have clear advantages in innovation, but we need to continue to innovate," Cuttino said. "We need (increased government funding) for research and development, which at the level it is now is as low as it was in the 1970s. It needs to increase if we are going to boost this sector of a part of our economy we clearly have a significant stake in."
The clean energy sector needs steady policy from the federal government that provides it with the certainty it needs to invest and grow, Cuttino said. Specifically, he said it would be good for the economy if the government increased tax credits for clean energy technologies and worked to expand markets overseas.
Bullard added that along with solar, America enjoys a positive trade imbalance with China for wind energy and smart technology trade.
Pew is a nonprofit dedicated to accelerating America's transition to clean energy for both national security and environmental benefits. Cuttino said Pew boasts a strong research arm, and that Bloomberg News was asked to help conduct the research for the report due to its access to needed information.
Cuttino, Bullard and Kim all agreed there is a worry in the clean technology industry that politicians in the federal government will look at how China is exporting completed solar panels and get the wrong impression of the industry.
"There are incorrect assumptions about what is going on in the energy market," Kim said, who added that those incorrect assumptions and uncertainties create concerns in the financing sector "and the inaction of the United States government in this area has certainly been a significant contributor."
bklein@newstote.com
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