The Trump administration is officially being sued by Canada over President Trump’s decision last month to impose trade tariffs on solar panel imports as a protectionist action that the administration hopes will boost manufacturing in the U.S.
A number of solar panel companies from Canada sued the U.S. through a court set up to address grievances under the North American Free Trade Agreement. Meanwhile, the European Union said it is seeking compensation from the U.S. through the World Trade Organization, citing Germany’s significant production of solar panels into the North American market.
Trump approved the tariffs based on a U.S. International Trade Commission recommendation, which was made in response, in part, to a petition by the U.S. subsidiary of the German company SolarWorld.
The Canadian lawsuit was filed Wednesday with the U.S. Court on International Trade. “Because the proclamation is unlawful as applied to plaintiffs, and inflicts grave and irreversible harms on them, plaintiffs seek a declaration that the proclamation violates the Trade Act and the NAFTA Implementation Act and an injunction prohibiting its enforcements against plaintiffs,” according to the lawsuit.
The U.S. tariffs, which went into effect on Wednesday, will begin ratcheting up 30 percent next year, and fall each year thereafter. The first 2.5 gigawatts of imported solar panels will be exempted from the tariff for each year that the tariffs are in effect. The tariff lasts four years.
China and South Korea condemned Trump’s tariff approval last month and plan to protest the action in the World Trade Organization.
