- US Customs and Border Protection is investigating Waaree Energies for duty evasion on solar cells.
- The probe targets alleged mislabelling of Chinese solar cells as Indian to avoid US tariffs.
- US had launched trade probes on modules from India and Southeast Asia earlier this year.
The US is investigating whether Waaree Energies Ltd., India's largest solar panel maker, evaded anti-dumping and countervailing duties on solar cells from China and other Southeast Asian nations.
US Customs and Border Protection has started a formal investigation of Waaree and Waaree Solar Americas Inc. and imposed interim measures because there is reasonable suspicion the company evaded duties when bringing merchandise into the US, according to a public notice by the agency obtained by Bloomberg News.
Waaree sells products such as solar modules and inverters. The company's shares have more than doubled since its debut in Mumbai last October on an optimistic outlook for the Indian renewable sector, whose development has become a focus for the government but which has suffered a setback after the US imposed punitive tariffs on the South Asian nation.
The probe is being launched in response to an allegation by the American Alliance for Solar Manufacturing Trade Committee that Waaree was mislabeling solar cells that originated in China as coming from India to avoid tariffs on Chinese solar products. Waaree didn't immediately respond to a request for comment outside of Indian office hours.
US solar manufacturers have been calling for higher tariffs on imported photovoltaic equipment that the fledgling industry says is being unfairly subsidized and dumped into one of the world's biggest markets. In August, the US Commerce department launched a new trade probe on modules from Indonesia, Laos and India after US makers filed a complaint. Steep duties were imposed earlier this year on solar equipment from Vietnam, Cambodia, Malaysia and Thailand.
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