WTO sides with U.S. in solar trade dispute with India

The World Trade Organization has sided with the United States against India’s “domestic content requirements,” which have effectively eliminated exports of U.S. solar technology to the country.    The World Trade Organization (WTO) has sided with the United States in a long simmering dispute with India over its trade barriers that have eliminated exports of U.S. solar technology to the country.
   Since 2011, India has maintained “domestic content requirements” under its National Solar Mission, requiring the country’s solar energy developers to use Indian-manufactured cells and modules. The U.S. government has claimed that this measure wiped out more than 90 percent of U.S. solar exports to India.
   A WTO Appellate Body affirmed an earlier WTO panel report agreeing with the United States that India’s domestic content requirements discriminated against American-made and other imported solar products, in breach of international trade rules. The finding rejected all of India’s defensive arguments.
   “We strongly support the rapid deployment of solar energy worldwide, including in India,” said U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman in a statement. “But local content requirements are not only contrary to WTO rules, but actually undermine our efforts to promote clean energy by requiring the use of more expensive and less efficient equipment, making it more difficult for clean energy sources to be cost-competitive.”