China imported 10,897 tons of solar-grade polysilicon in April 2015, with 1,851 tons (or 16.99%) coming from Taiwan, behind only the 3,785 tons from South Korea and 3,667 tons from Germany and more than the 1,584 tons from the US, industry sources in Taiwan cited China customs statistics as indicating.

The China government in 2103 imposed anti-dumping and anti-subsidization tariffs on imported polysilicon produced by US-, Europe- and South Korea-based makers, the sources indicated. As these makers exported polysilicon through export processing zones (EPZs) to evade taxation, the China government banned imports via EPZs in September 2014 but excluded such imports with import licenses issued earlier, the sources said. However, via-EPZ import licenses will expire on August 31, 2015, the sources noted.

Noteworthy is that Taiwan-based polysilicon makers have either not started volume production or already stopped production and Sunlux Energy, a Taiwan-based maker reclaiming solar-grade polysilicon from semiconductor-grade polysilicon, is practically the only Taiwan-based company that can export polysilicon to China, the sources said.

Therefore, so much polysilicon exported from Taiwan to China in April reflected that there were Taiwan-based makers or trading companies providing false certificates of origin to help US-, Europe or South Korea-based makers export polysilicon to China to evade anti-dumping and anti-subsidization tariffs, the sources indicated. This also showed that Taiwan authorities were negligent in examining applications for certificates of origin, the sources explained.