U.S. Brings Second Trade Action Against India For Solar Power Imports

The United States wants India to remove allegedly illegal local sourcing requirements of its national solar program.In a legal action filed with the World Trade Organization, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative claimed that the domestic content requirements for India’s National Solar Mission (NSM) discriminate against solar cells and modules manufactured in the U.S.

“These unfair requirements are against WTO rules,” said U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman. “These types of ‘localization’ measures not only are an unfair barrier to U.S. exports, but also raise the cost of solar energy, hindering deployment of solar energy around the world, including in India.”

In 2010, India launched the first of three phases of the NSM, which is aims to deploy 20 gigawatts of grid connected solar power by 2022.

In February 2013, the U.S. challenged similar domestic content requirements in Phase I of the NSM program in formal consultations with the WTO. The consultations failed to resolve the dispute.

Under the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, India is supposed to treat imported products as favorably as domestic products.Phase II of the NSM also limits funding to solar projects using solar cells and modules manufactured in India.

Source : forbes.com