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.
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.
India has enough tempered solar glass capacity to cater for its own PV manufacturers despite the introduction of anti-dumping duties against certain glass imports from China, according to the Indian firm that originally petitioned for the trade measures.
The governments of Canada, Mexico, South Korea, Taiwan, China and Thailand have joined the surge in lobbying as Tuesday’s initial hearing into the Section 201 trade case nears.
Anything from duties to a minimum import price (MIP) on solar imports are being sought by India’s anti-dumping petitioners, but there are concerns around circumvention of an MIP if introduced, according to a person close to the issue.
UPDATED: India solar manufacturers have filed an anti-dumping petition with the Ministry of Trade and Commerce against Chinese solar cells and modules, according to a report from consultancy firm Mercom Capital Group, although no official notification has been released so far.
