A court ruling has clarified Aruba solar import duties for electrical cable and several types of mounting hardware used in photovoltaic installations.
Most mounting hardware remains at 6%
The case involved corrugated-roof bolts, clamps, nuts, screws and cable imported between 2020 and 2022. The importer declared the products as solar-panel components subject to a 2% tariff.
After an inspection, Customs classified most of the materials at 6% and issued three additional assessments worth more than Afl. 33,000 in total. The court found that the bolts, clamps, nuts and screws do not participate directly in generating electricity. Because they are used to mount panels, they must be classified in their own customs categories at the higher rate.
Electrical cable qualifies for 2%
The court reached a different conclusion for cable. Although cable does not generate electricity, it carries the current produced by solar panels to the rest of the system.
A 2011 Aruban ministerial provision permits a favourable 2% tariff for electrical components intended exclusively for solar-energy systems. Customs already applies that treatment to inverters and batteries, and the court determined that qualifying cable falls under the same rule.
The cable assessment must therefore be reduced to 2%, while the other two assessments remain in force.
