India has dragged the US to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) challenging the domestic content requirements and subsidies provided by eight US states in the renewable energy sector.
“On 9 September, India requested consultations with the US under the dispute settlement system regarding alleged domestic content requirements and subsidies provided by eight US states (Washington, California, Montana, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Michigan, Delaware and Minnesota) in the renewable energy sector,” the WTO said in a release.
The request for consultations formally initiates a dispute in the WTO. Consultations give the parties an opportunity to discuss the matter and to find a satisfactory solution without proceeding further with litigation. After 60 days, if consultations have failed to resolve the dispute, the complainant may request adjudication by a panel.
With this move, the spat between India and the US on renewables has become bigger because in February this year, the WTO ruled in the US’ favour and against India’s domestic content requirements, saying that the measures New Delhi had taken were “not justified” under the Agreement on Trade-Related Investment Measures (TRIMs) and General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT).
Source: Economic Times
