CREDIT: Shutterstock Industrial espionage, punitive tariffs and trade wars — as the New York Times reported on Monday, they’re just the latest in the ongoing dispute between solar manufacturers in the U.S. and China. SolarWorld Americas — the largest solar panel manufacturer in the U.S. — first brought its case to the Commerce Department in 2011, arguing that subsidies provided by the Chinese government were allowing manufacturers there to sell solar panels at unfairly low costs, threatening the finances of manufacturers in America.