The U.S. filed a second complaint against India at the World Trade Organization, reviving a year-old dispute between the two nations over India’s solar-energy policies.
Today’s action follows a case the U.S. filed in February 2013 at the Geneva-based WTO, saying India’s domestic-content requirements on solar energy violate global trade rules.
“These domestic content requirements discriminate against U.S. exports” of solar products, U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman said today at a news conference in Washington.
His office notified India today that it is requesting consultations at the WTO to resolve the dispute. If the matter isn’t resolved in 60 days, the U.S. can request creation of a special panel at the WTO to hear the case.
Trade between the U.S., the world’s largest economy, and India, the third-biggest economy in Asia, has increased fourfold since 2005, S. Jaishankar, India’s ambassador to the U.S., said in an interview at Bloomberg’s Washington office on Jan. 30. Commercial ties can expand the “relatively small economic relationship” between the nations, he said.
Relations between the nations were roiled after the December arrest in New York of Indian diplomat Devyani Khobragade, who was accused of visa fraud for allegedly underpaying her babysitter. She returned to India on Jan. 10 after she was indicted.
