Major China-based solar panel makers on May 24 protested over punitive tariffs the EU plans to levy on China-made solar products.

The Obama administration and the EU have each decided to negotiate settlements with China in the world's largest anti-dumping and anti-subsidy trade cases involving China's roughly US$30 billion a year in solar panel shipments to the West, officials and trade advisers in Beijing, Brussels and Washington said.

The euro slid to its weakest level in more than a month after figures showed that the eurozone economy shrank by more than expected, raising concerns about the health of the single currency bloc.

The European Commission's (EC) proposed anti-dumping tax on imports of cheap solar panels from China has met with stiff opposition from the European industry body, the Alliance For Affordable Solar Energy (AFASE).

China resolutely opposes plans by the EU to impose punitive tariffs on imported China-made solar panels and will protect local companies, a spokesman for the Ministry of Commerce said on May 9.

The EU looks set to join the US in imposing punitive duties on imports of solar panels from China.

Retail sales across the eurozone have fallen for the second month in a row in March, according to the European Union statistics agency Eurostat.

The EU's trade chief will recommend placing punitive import duties on billions of euros of solar panels from China, people close to the matter say, putting up a barrier to protect Europe-based producers but risking upsetting Beijing.

German chipmaker Infineon brightened its gloomy outlook for this year, citing orders from carmakers hoping sales of higher-spec models in China will offset flagging demand in Europe.

The EUR11.8 million (US$15 million) pan-Europe NEWLED project is aiming to develop a new generation of 50-60% energy efficient white light-emitting LED lights, which would be more than twice as efficient as existing LED-based bulbs.

Importers of inexpensive solar panels from China said on Tuesday that imposing tariffs would lead to hundreds of thousands of job losses in the EU, the biggest export market for the China-based equipment.

In yet another wrinkle in the solar trade war with China, a consortium of European manufacturers filed an anti-dumping complaint with the European Commission against solar glass from China.

The contraction of manufacturing across the eurozone slowed in January amid signs that the worst may be over, according to a survey.

Japan has posted a record high trade deficit for 2012, as exports to Europe and China continued their plunge.

The recession in Europe is entering its fifth year and unemployment doesn't look like it will be returning to normal levels anytime soon.

On 14 November, people in Madrid and all across Europe participated in a demonstration against government austerity measures.

Booming sales in Asia have helped German car firm BMW shrug off the gloom in Europe to report a record third quarter pre-tax profit.

Jobless numbers hit a grim record of 18.2 million across the eurozone in August, showing an annual rise of well over two million for the recession-stricken single currency area.

Chinese government officials have used economic cooperation talks, between Germany and China, to raise the topic that a bilateral solution could be reached between the two countries to avoid a potential photovoltaic trade war.

Miao Liansheng, chairman of the board of Yingli Green Energy, said if the anti-dumping case is verified, China-based solar companies will be forced to transfer their industry to other countries, which will cause a loss to the real economy in China, and this newly leading industry will also lose its development opportunities.

Manufacturing output across the 17-country eurozone shrank again in August, according to a widely-watched survey.

Japan has reported a wider-than-expected trade deficit in July, as slowing demand from China and Europe weighed on exports.

China-based solar panel manufacturers have urged Beijing to respond to a threat of European anti-dumping restrictions.

Future Horizons has said it included the comment "We assume GlobalFoundries will purchase IBM's semiconductor division and that Hynix/Micron will buy up the remaining smaller memory firms," in the conclusions of a report prepared by Future Horizons and Decision SA for the European Commission on the future of 450mm wafer processing in Europe.

Shoppers in the eurozone loosened their purse-strings in May, but the trend remained sluggish, official statistics have shown.

The pro-bailout New Democracy party came in first Sunday in Greece's national election and could gather enough support to form a pro-bailout coalition to keep the country in the eurozone.

The results in France and Greece came after a tumultuous few weeks in which the Dutch government fell and Britain's Conservative-led coalition received a licking in local elections.

Unemployment in the eurozone reached a record high again in March 2012 as spending cuts continued to hit the working population.