India Loses WTO Solar Appeal but May Find Other Ways to Subsidize Domestic Manufacturers
September 19, 2016
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The World Trade Organization (WTO) upheld its earlier ruling and has rejected India’s appeal against Domestic Content Requirements (DCR) for manufacturing solar cells and modules and agreed that India’s localization rules discriminate against U.S. manufacturers. The result was not a surprise to anyone in the industry. A statement from U.S. trade representative said that U.S. solar exports have fallen by more than 90 percent since India implemented DCR rules. However, the reason for this fall has more to do with competition from cheaper Chinese panels than DCR rules. Chinese panels are being sold in India at the cheapest prices anywhere in the world – at or below $0.39 (~Rs.26)/watt.