India’s solar industry said the decision to impose steep preliminary anti-dumping duties on cells and modules from India will have limited immediate impact on domestic exporters, but remains a matter of concern.
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“The findings of the investigation seemed to be fundamentally flawed and without any logical basis. NSEFI, being the largest umbrella body for the solar industry in India, has already initiated the process of sending a formal representation and contesting the findings,” National Solar Energy Federation of India (NSEFI) CEO Subrahmanyam Pulipaka told ET.
In a notice on Thursday, the US Department of Commerce said it had found “critical circumstances” for imports from companies including Mundra Solar Energy, Mundra Solar PV, Kowa and Premier Energies, adding that the suspension of liquidation will apply to shipments entered for consumption up to 90 days prior to the publication of the order.
“We will contest this through the final determination and the ITC proceedings, and remain hopeful of a favourable outcome,” said Amit Manohar, the Secretary General of the Indian Solar Manufacturers Association (ISMA).
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The findings come when the two sides are engaged in negotiations for a bilateral trade agreement and wrapped up their three-day talks on Wednesday in Washington, the first in-person talks since October.
Noting that the four companies failed to submit necessary information to calculate an antidumping duty margin in this investigation, and failed to cooperate by not acting to the best of their ability to comply with the requests for information, the department said it was using an adverse inference in selecting from among the facts otherwise available.
Shares of Waaree Energies ended 2.7% lower at ₹3,320 on the BSE, while those of Vikram Solar ended down 2.3% to ₹222.4. Premier Energies fell in early trade but rallied to close up 1% to ₹1011.4.
The move comes on top of existing countervailing duties of over 125% on Indian supplies, taking the combined tariff burden to over 200%, which had already made exports to the US largely unviable. “With this kind of tariff stack, Indian modules are effectively locked out of the US market,” an industry official said.
In the meantime, exporters have over the past few years shifted focus to alternative markets, including Europe, West Asia and other emerging regions.