US wins WTO solar energy case against India

On Wednesday US received a favourable ruling to its 2013 complaint against India’s national solar power program. While seeking to ease chronic energy shortages in Asia’s third-largest economy without creating pollution, India’s program had  a requirement that certain cells and modules be made in India. This fell afoul of WTO rules on discriminating against imports. The United States said its solar exports to India had fallen by 90 percent from 2011, when India imposed the rules.

Ruling against India, the WTO said the government’s power purchase agreements with solar firms were “inconsistent” with international norms.

The WTO ruling, which can be appealed within 60 days, was repeatedly delayed as the two sides tried to negotiate a settlement. An Indian official had said a compromise might let India subsidize state projects such as defence or railway projects.

Hailing the WTO stand as a ‘significant’ victory against India’s localisation policy in the solar industry,   Obama said the US will not allow other countries engaged in practices that disadvantage its workers and firms. “We can’t have other countries engaged in practices that disadvantage American workers and American businesses. One of the things I am very proud of is that we have ramped up enforcement of our trade laws to protect American workers and American businesses like never before,” Obama said at the signing ceremony of the trade facilitation and trade enforcement act of 2015. 

“In areas like steel, for example, we have brought more cases than we had in the previous decade. We have brought more cases before the World Trade Organisation, the WTO, than any other administration. The ones that we have brought, we have won. In fact, we just won a case against India this week,” said the US President.

Obama said trade is a major topic of debate in the US and around the world. “One area where there should be no debate is that once we have set up trade rules, people have to abide by them,” he said.