US senators fight for change of PV duties in India - report

Jul 1, 2014 - Two US senators are pushing the government to ask India to revise its decision for imposing anti-dumping duties on imports of solar equipment from the US, the Press Trust of India (PTI) reported today.

A member of the Democratic Party, Sherrod Brown, and a Republican, Rob Portman, have sent a letter to US Trade Representative Mike Froman, urging him to take the case to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) should India refuse to amend its decision.

According to the senators, this move by the Indian government would effectively close the local solar market to US sector companies like First Solar Inc (NASDAQ:FSLR). The senators quoted certain reports that claim the Indian government had relied on selected information when making its decision, disregarding data provided by US photovoltaics (PV) manufacturers in order to strengthen the domestic industry. These actions violate WTO rules, they noted.

Earlier this year, India’s Ministry of Commerce and Industry proposed anti-dumping duties of between USD 0.11 and USD 0.81 (EUR 0.08-0.59) per watt for solar cells coming from the US, China, Malaysia and Taiwan. US producers alone are expected to face charges of between USD 0.11 and USD 0.48 per watt.

(USD 1.0 = EUR 0.730)

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