WTO rules in favor of U.S. on India’s solar import rules

The World Trade Organization on Wednesday sided with a U.S. challenge to India’s so-called “localization” rules that the United States says discriminate against solar cell imports.    The World Trade Organization on Wednesday sided with a U.S. challenge to India’s so-called “localization” rules that the United States says discriminate against solar cell imports. 
   India currently requires that solar power developers in the country include Indian-manufactured solar cells and modules, rather than imported technology, which is inconsistent with its WTO obligations. Since India enacted the domestic content requirements in 2011, U.S. solar exports to India have dropped by more than 90 percent, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative said.
   The United States decided to initiate a dispute in the WTO against India’s localization solar power rules in February 2013.
   “The United States strongly supports the rapid deployment of solar energy around the world – including in India. But discriminatory policies in the clean energy space in fact undermine our efforts to promote clean energy by requiring the use of more expensive and less efficient equipment, raising the cost of generating clean energy and making it more difficult for clean energy sources to be competitive,” U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman said in a statement.
   Under WTO rules, the report will be adopted if either the United States or India so requests within 60 days of the panel report’s circulation, or either country may appeal the report before it’s adopted.
   “The United States will continue to work with India, as it has for the last several months, to explore opportunities to negotiate a resolution of this dispute, consistent with WTO rules,” USTR said.
   The U.S. solar energy dispute is one of 20 enforcement actions taken at the WTO since President Obama took office – more than any other WTO member.