trade duties

It is “unhealthy” for China to dominate solar manufacturing and production bases outside of the country are necessary to reduce the risk of supply chain disruptions, an Indian government official has said.

Exemption on customs duty for cells and modules in India widely expected to be lifted later in the year but there are still legal barriers to overcome, says Bridge to India.

Trump administration in fresh solar trade setback as appellate body maintains country failed to prove Beijing was subsidising specific firms before import duties were adopted.

Chinese solar companies could be owed almost US$300 million in trade tariff rebates by the US government following a low-profile court ruling.

UPDATED: The aim is to "prevent complete erosion" of India's solar manufacturing base, said Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR).

The Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) has sent a plea to president Trump asking him to preserve tens of thousands of US solar jobs by not imposing high tariffs on imported solar panels, while Trump himself has indicated that he will make a decision on the Section 201 Case soon.

UPDATED: An oral hearing on India’s anti-dumping investigation into imports of solar cells and modules from China, Taiwan and Malaysia has been postponed to 12 December.

If India’s anti-dumping duty petition results in the introduction of trade barriers without other policy level reforms, it will fail to achieve its original goal of supporting domestic manufacturers, having already created huge uncertainty in the whole sector, according to a report by consultancy firm Bridge to India.

Some of the industry is at loggerheads and many feel local manufacturing must be intrinsic to the 100GW by 2022 solar target, but the value of trade duties is under dispute.

India’s Directorate General of Anti-Dumping & Allied Duties (DGAD) has published a letter revealing which Chinese, Taiwanese and Malaysian solar cell producers and exporters will be sampled in its ongoing anti-dumping investigation.