Canadian Solar, a firm based in Guelph, has filed a legal suit against the U.S. administration in the U.S. court of international trade based in New York. The suit has apparently been filed over the levying of import duties on its solar cells to the U.S. As per the GuelphMercuryTribune.com, apart from Canadian Solar, its subsidiary Canadian Solar (USA), Heliene Inc., and Silfab Solar Inc., are the listed litigants in the lawsuit against the Trump administration.
For the record, on January 23rd, 2018, the Trump administration had decided to impose tariffs of 30% on all the solar cells procured into the U.S. The plaintiffs claim that the tariffs levied by the U.S. authorities last month have violated the terms & conditions of NAFTA, imposing serious damages on the petitioners.
As per the U.S. court filing, the inquiry carried out by International Trade Commission claims that global imports of solar cells had been impacting U.S. manufacturers negatively. However, it also goes on record to state that CSPV products imported from Canada did not majorly account for U.S. solar cells market share. On these grounds, the filing claims that the imports may not have actually had any significant impact on the business of the U.S. manufacturers. The litigants also state that the commission did not actually recommend the implementation of tariffs.
According to the plaintiffs, the levying of import duties on the CSPV products of Canada has also violated the Trade Act of 1974, as the decision was taken without taking into consideration the judgement of International Trade Commission.
Apparently, the Canadian solar cell manufacturers are not the only firms to initiate a litigation against the U.S. government in the reaction to the import duties. Earlier, the European Union, Taiwan, China, and South Korea had also addressed their concerns with the WTO (World Trade Organization) over the tariffs levied by the U.S. government on their goods.
