ISMA Withdraws Solar Anti-Dumping Plea, to File Fresh Petition Next Week

ISMA will now file a fresh petition with the Directorate General of Anti-Dumping and Allied Duties again in the next week.

In a significant development, the Indian Solar Manufacturers Association (ISMA) has withdrawn a petition it had filed in July last year for anti-dumping investigation on solar cells and modules imported from China, Taiwan and Malaysia. The petitioners will be filing a fresh plea, seeking to extend the period of investigation after a considerable increase in solar imports was noticed in the second half of 2017.

According to the ISMA statement, “We had filed the petition for Antidumping duty on solar cells and modules, covering the period of investigation till June 2017. However, the import trends since then have made the period of investigation irrelevant.”

With an increase in volume of imports of cells and modules by 33 to 45 percent between July to December last year, it was imperative to ‘contemporarize’ the period of investigation, the statement added.

The period of investigation for the petition which has now been withdrawn, was April 2016 to June 2017.

The Indian Solar Manufacturers Association (ISMA) had filed an anti-dumping petition against solar imports from China, Taiwan, and Malaysia with the Directorate General of Anti-Dumping (DGAD), Ministry of Trade and Commerce, requesting levy of interim duty on importers on June 5, 2017.

ISMA will now file a fresh petition with the Directorate General of Anti-Dumping and Allied Duties again in the next week.

Indian solar developers have raised serious concerns of anti-dumping and safeguard duties, which will increase project costs and ultimately lead to higher solar tariffs. However, domestic solar manufacturers have made a strong case for imports crippling their businesses.

It is pertinent to mention that the Directorate General of Safeguards in January this year proposed 70 percent safeguard duty on imported solar cells and modules, after a petition was filed by ISMA again.

Source: ET