China has agreed not to impose tariffs on imports of the solar-panel component polysilicon from the European Union, a spokeswoman for the German economics ministry said Monday.
The spokeswoman was confirming an earlier report by daily newspaper Handelsblatt, which said that German Economics Minister Philipp Roesler and China's Commerce Minister Gao Hucheng agreed that China wouldn't place sanctions on EU polysilicon products.
Potential sanctions would have hit German chemical company Wacker Chemie AG (WCH.XE) particularly hard, the newspaper reports.
Mr. Roesler and German Chancellor Angela Merkel have long advocated a negotiated solution to the EU-China trade dispute.
The Chinese government's acquiescence on the matter comes despite tense negotiations between with the European Union over alleged Chinese "dumping" of solar-panel gear on the European market at unfairly low prices.
The EU's recent decision to impose antidumping tariffs on imports of Chinese solar panels led China to announce similar duties on European wine, although Monday's announcement indicates China won't impose tariffs of its own on European polysilicon.