Taiwanese solar stocks led by Motech Industries fell in July after the U.S. proposed expanded penalties on solar energy imports in a victory for the U.S. unit of SolarWorld, which accused China of shifting production to Taiwan after it lost an earlier case. Gintech Energy, E-Ton Solar Tech and Neo Solar Power also tumbled. The U.S. Department of Commerce issued a preliminary finding that said overseas producers, including China’s Trina Solar and Taiwan’s Gintech, sold goods in the U.S. at unfairly low prices, and called for duties ranging as high as 165% for some Chinese manufacturers and 44% for those in Taiwan. China hopes the U.S. can handle anti-dumping and anti-subsidy probes on Chinese solar products “cautiously,” the Chinese Ministry of Commerce said, calling for a quick end to the probes. Jennifer Liang, Taipei-based Analyst at KGI Securities, said the duties were higher than the market expected. “The U.S. accounted for about 30% of Taiwanese solar-cell shipments in the past year and a half,” she said. The duties will prompt Taiwanese producers to rely more on Japanese and European markets, she added. A final decision by the U.S. Commerce Department will be made in mid-December. The U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) will determine by the end of January whether U.S. makers of solar power goods were harmed by the imports. If so, the duties will be permanent. U.S. imports from mainland China and Taiwan of the crystalline silicon photovoltaic cells, panels and modules used to make electricity from sunlight were valued at USD2.2 billion last year, the South China Morning Post reported.