Solar dispute: US hardens stand against India at WTO

The United States has blocked a request from New Delhi for allowing a World Trade Organization (WTO) compliance panel to determine whether India has removed the mandatory domestic content requirements and other restrictive measures imposed on imported solar cells and solar modules, according to sources. On 23 January, India filed a first-time request for establishing what is called a WTO compliance panel to determine whether its measures to do away with the illegal domestic content requirements are in line with the rulings and recommendations issued by the trade body. At a dispute settlement body meeting, India said it “considers that in the event of any disagreement between the parties with respect to the existence or consistency with a covered agreement of measures taken to comply with the recommendations and rulings (of the WTO), the logical course of action is to first have recourse to Article 21.5 of the DSU,” according sources.