Canadian Minister for International Trade Mary Ng speaks during Question Period in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, November 29, 2021. REUTERS/Blair Gable

OTTAWA, July 7 (Reuters) – The United States has agreed to lift tariffs on Canadian solar products after a trade dispute settlement panel sided with Ottawa earlier this year, Canadian Commerce Secretary Mary Ng said Thursday.

Canada, which claimed the tariffs violated the terms of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), sought help from a dispute resolution panel last year.

In February, Canada said the panel had confirmed the tariffs were “unjustified and inconsistent” with the trade pact. The United States also said it had the upper hand in some aspects of the panel’s decision. Read more

Since then, Washington and Ottawa have been in talks to resolve the dispute.

“Today I welcomed the agreement with the United States to abolish U.S. offset tariffs on solar products from Canada,” Ng said in a statement.

Ng said the United States and Canada have “shared goals and commitments to address climate change” and that removing tariffs “would bring stability and predictability to our renewable energy sector and strengthen the competitiveness of the North America”.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government has made tackling climate change one of its top priorities and has pledged to reach net zero carbon emissions by 2050.

Former U.S. President Donald Trump first imposed “Section 201” safeguard tariffs on imported solar panels and cells in January 2018, but did not exempt Canada and Mexico from the tariffs. USMCA terms eliminate most tariffs with North American partners.

US President Joe Biden extended tariffs for another four years in February, but in a major concession to installers, he eased the terms to exclude a panel technology that dominates among major US projects. . Read more

Reporting by Ismail Shakil in Ottawa; Edited by Tim Ahmann and Bernadette Baum

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