The US threat of 10% tariffs on solar inverters has been met with a mixture of disdain and composure by authorities and the Chinese solar industry itself.
The government of India will come down hard on those flouting the Domestic Content Requirement (DCR) rules – in WTO permitted cases – where imported solar modules are used, but declared as locally made.
South Korea has requested consultations with the US government over its newly announced solar import tariffs, threatening legal action at the World Trade Organization (WTO) if the dispute is not resolved, according to documents filed at the WTO.
The Trump administration's 30% tariff on imports of solar cells and modules will result in modules cost increases of 9-10¢/W in year one, reducing to 3-4¢/W in year four, according to separate analyses by GTM Research and Deutsche Bank.
Module costs for US firms in 2018 will still be lower than 2017 prices, despite the impending 30% import tariffs, according to the CEO of Chinese manufacturer turned project developer ReneSola.
An oral hearing for India’s anti-dumping investigation was held on Tuesday, giving a chance for domestic and foreign manufacturers as well as module importers to air their cases.
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.
Remedies that drive up the cost of deploying solar power in the US would jeopardise the ability of Puerto Rico to rebuild its power infrastructure, Senator-at-large Eduardo Bhatia has warned.
The US International Trade Commission has voted 4-0 in favour of proceeding with the Suniva Section 201 trade case having seen enough evidence to convince them that imports are the major cause of injury to US solar manufacturers.
The results of our first (last) ever attempt at polling are in and they are very much predictable. But regardless of popular opinion, it's worth considering the views of those not speaking up. While the industry is largely against Section 201 trade measures, that alone is not the most likely reason the ITC might choose not to recommend hefty tariffs come November.
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.
