MOSES LAKE - Progress is being made to resolve an ongoing trade dispute with China involving heavy tariffs on U.S.-made polysilicon, REC Silicon officials said recently.

The Solar Energy Industries Association released a plan to resolve the dispute and eliminate the proposed Chinese tariffs last week, REC general counsel Francine Sullivan said Thursday.

Under the plan, the Chinese government would agree to end its duty investigations on polysilicon exports to China and in return, the U.S. antidumping and countervailing duties orders would be phased out, according to the SEIA website. (Dumping a product is sellling something at an unfair low price and countervailing duites are also known as antisubsidy duties.)

Rep. Doc Hastings, R-Wash., and Steve Daines, R-Mont., then wrote a joint letter to the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) last week urging the agency to support that plan and preserve access to the Chinese market for American manufactures of polysilicon.

Sullivan said having support from legislators is extremely beneficial to their cause. Besides the congressmen, Gov. Jay Inslee and U.S. Sens. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash. and Patty Murray, D-Wash, as well as a number of Montana lawmakers, have also made public statements supporting a resolution.

"I think it's helpful as we continue to work with SEIA, USTR, the White House and the relevant authorities and industry companies in China towards a resolution," she said.

The Chinese government announced their plans to impose tariffs on U.S.-made polysilicon in July. Polysilicon bought from REC Silicon specifically would end up having a 57-percent duty added, according to a previous Columbia Basin Herald article.

However, that poses a problem for REC Silicon since about 80 percent of the company's customers are in China.

The trade dispute has been ongoing since China launched a trade case against polysilicon imports from the United States, Korea and the European Union about a year ago. A final decision in the case isn't expected to be handed down until next February, but Sullivan said she hopes a political resolution is achieved before then.

In August, Sullivan said REC Silicon does not foresee a reduction in production or layoffs at either their Moses Lake or Butte, Mont., plants.

Hastings said he felt it was necessary to write the letter because the tariffs would be devastating to REC Silicon. Central Washington's economy would be significantly affected as a result, he said in a recent press release.

"We felt it necessary to bring this issue to Ambassador Froman's (of the USTR) attention as quickly as possible and request that his office dedicate all resources at his disposal to preserve fair access to the Chinese marketplace," he said in the release.

REC Silcon employs more than 900 people at the facilities in Moses Lake and Montana.

Staff writer Joe Utter contributed to this report.