Notice2023-04576
Crystalline Silicon Photovoltaic Products From the People's Republic of China: Preliminary Results of Changed Circumstances Reviews, and Intent To Revoke the Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Orders, in Part
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Published
March 7, 2023
Issuing agencies
Commerce DepartmentInternational Trade Administration
Abstract
On August 8, 2022, the U.S. Department of Commerce (Commerce) received a request for revocation, in part, of the antidumping duty (AD) and countervailing duty (CVD) orders on crystalline silicon photovoltaic products (solar products) from the People's Republic of China (China), from Shenzen Hello Tech Energy Co., Ltd. (Hello Tech) with respect to certain off-grid small portable crystalline silicon photovoltaic (CSPV) panels as described below. We preliminary determine to revoke, in part, the solar products AD and CVD orders with respect to these products. Interested parties are invited to comment on these preliminary results.
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 88 Issue 44 (Tuesday, March 7, 2023)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 44 (Tuesday, March 7, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 14129-14131]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2023-04576]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
International Trade Administration
[A-570-010, C-570-011]
Crystalline Silicon Photovoltaic Products From the People's
Republic of China: Preliminary Results of Changed Circumstances
Reviews, and Intent To Revoke the Antidumping and Countervailing Duty
Orders, in Part
AGENCY: Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade Administration,
Department of Commerce.
SUMMARY: On August 8, 2022, the U.S. Department of Commerce (Commerce)
received a request for revocation, in part, of the antidumping duty
(AD) and countervailing duty (CVD) orders on crystalline silicon
photovoltaic products (solar products) from the People's Republic of
China (China), from Shenzen Hello Tech Energy Co., Ltd. (Hello Tech)
with respect to certain off-grid small portable crystalline silicon
photovoltaic (CSPV) panels as described below. We preliminary determine
to revoke, in part, the solar products AD and CVD orders with respect
to these products. Interested parties are invited to comment on these
preliminary results.
DATES: Applicable March 7, 2023.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Daniel Alexander, AD/CVD Operations,
Office VII, Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade
Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue
NW, Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-4313.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
On February 18, 2015, Commerce published the AD and CVD orders on
solar products from China.\1\ On August 8, 2022, Hello Tech, a Chinese
producer and exporter of subject merchandise, requested that Commerce
conduct changed circumstances reviews (CCR) to find that it is
appropriate to revoke the Orders, in part, with respect to certain off-
grid small portable CSPV panels, pursuant to section 751(b)(1) of the
Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (the Act), and 19 CFR 351.216(b).\2\
Hello Tech's CCR request included a letter from the American Alliance
for Solar Manufacturing (the Alliance) (a coalition of domestic
producers of solar cells), which stated that the Alliance did not
oppose Hello Tech's request for changed circumstances reviews and its
proposed exclusion language.\3\ On September 29, 2022, we published the
notice of initiation of the requested CCRs.\4\ In the Initiation Notice
we invited interested parties to provide comments and/or factual
information regarding these CCRs, including comments on industry
support and the proposed partial revocation language.\5\ We received no
comments or factual information.
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\1\ See Certain Crystalline Silicon Photovoltaic Products from
the People's Republic of China: Antidumping Duty Order; and Amended
Final Affirmative Countervailing Duty Determination and
Countervailing Duty Order, 80 FR 8592 (February 18, 2015)
(collectively, Orders).
\2\ See Hello Tech's Letter, ``Certain Crystalline Silicon
Photovoltaic Products from the People's Republic of China: Hello
Tech's Resubmitted Request for Changed Circumstances Reviews,''
dated August 8, 2022 (CCR Request).
\3\ Id. at Exhibit 7.
\4\ See Crystalline Silicon Photovoltaic Products from the
People's Republic of China: Notice of Initiation of Changed
Circumstances Reviews, and Consideration of Revocation of the
Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Orders in Part, 87 FR 59043
(September 29, 2022) (Initiation Notice).
\5\ Id., 87 FR at 59044.
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Scope of the Orders
The merchandise covered by these Orders is modules, laminates and/
or panels consisting of crystalline silicon photovoltaic cells, whether
or not partially or fully assembled into other products, including
building integrated materials. For purposes of these Orders, subject
merchandise includes modules, laminates and/or panels assembled in
China consisting of crystalline silicon photovoltaic cells produced in
a customs territory other than China. Subject merchandise includes
modules, laminates and/or panels assembled in China consisting of
crystalline silicon photovoltaic cells of thickness equal to or greater
than 20 micrometers, having a p/n junction formed by any means, whether
or not the cell has undergone other processing, including, but not
limited to, cleaning, etching, coating, and/or addition of addition of
materials (including, but not limited to, metallization and conductor
patterns) to collect and forward the electricity that is generated by
the cell.
Excluded from the scope of the Orders are thin film photovoltaic
products produced from amorphous silicon (a-Si), cadmium telluride
(CdTe), or copper indium gallium selenide (CIGS). Also excluded from
the scope of these Orders are modules, laminates and/or panels
assembled in China, consisting of crystalline silicon photovoltaic
cells, not exceeding 10,000 mm\2\ in surface area, that are permanently
integrated into a consumer good whose function is other than power
generation and that consumes the electricity generated by the
integrated crystalline silicon photovoltaic cells. Where more than one
module, laminate and/or panel is permanently integrated into a consumer
good, the surface area for purposes of this exclusion shall be the
total combined surface area of all modules, laminates and/or panels
that are integrated into the consumer good.
Further, also excluded from the scope of these Orders are any
products covered by the existing antidumping and countervailing duty
orders on crystalline silicon photovoltaic cells, whether or not
assembled into modules, laminates and/or panels, from China.
Additionally, excluded from the scope of these Orders are solar panels
that are: (1) less than 300,000 mm\2\ in surface area; (2) less than
27.1 watts in power; (3) coated across their entire surface with a
polyurethane doming resin; and (4) joined to a battery charging and
maintaining unit (which is an acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) box
that incorporates a light emitting diode (LED)) by coated wires that
include a connector to permit the incorporation of an extension cable.
The battery charging and maintaining unit utilizes high-frequency
triangular pulse waveforms designed to maintain and extend the life of
batteries through the reduction of lead sulfate crystals. The above-
described battery charging and maintaining unit is currently available
under the registered trademark ``SolarPulse.'' Also excluded from the
scope of these Orders are off-grid crystalline silicon photovoltaic
panels without a glass cover with the following characteristics: (1)
total power output of 500 watts or less per panel; (2) maximum surface
area of 8,000 cm\2\ per panel; (3) unit does not include a built-in
inverter; (4) unit has visible parallel grid collector metallic wire
lines every
[[Page 14130]]
2-40 millimeters across each solar panel (depending on model); (5)
solar cells are encased in laminated frosted PET material without
stitching; (6) the panel is encased in polyester fabric with visible
stitching which includes a Velcro-type storage pocket and unit closure,
or encased within a Neoprene clamshell (depending on model); and (7)
includes LED indicator.
Merchandise covered by these Orders is currently classified in the
Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS) under
subheadings 8501.61.0000, 8507.20.8030, 8507.20.8040, 8507.20.8060,
8507.20.8090, 8541.40.6015, 8541.40.6020, 8541.40.6030, 8541.40.6035
and 8501.31.8000. These HTSUS subheadings are provided for convenience
and customs purposes; the written description of the scope of these
Orders is dispositive.\6\
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\6\ See Orders.
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Scope of the CCRs
Hello Tech requests that Commerce revoke the Orders, in part, to
exclude from the scope off-grid portable crystalline silicon
photovoltaic panels, with or without a glass cover, with the following
characteristics:
(A) a total power output of 200 watts or less per panel;
(B) a maximum surface area of 16,000 cm\2\ per panel;
(C) no built-in inverter;
(D) an integrated handle or a handle attached to the package for
ease of carry;
(E) one or more integrated kickstands for easy installation or
angle adjustment; and
(F) a wire of not less than 3 meters either permanently connected
or attached to the package that terminates in an 8mm diameter male
barrel connector.
Preliminary Results of CCRs and Intent To Revoke the Orders, in Part
Pursuant to section 751(d)(1) of the Act, and 19 CFR 351.222(g),
Commerce may revoke an AD or CVD order, in whole or in part, based on a
review under section 751(b) of the Act (i.e., a CCR). Section 751(b)(1)
of the Act requires a CCR to be conducted upon receipt of a request
which shows changed circumstances sufficient to warrant a review.
Section 782(h)(2) of the Act gives Commerce the authority to revoke an
order if producers accounting for substantially all of the production
of the domestic like product have expressed a lack of interest in the
order. Section 351.222(g) of Commerce's regulations provides that
Commerce will conduct a CCR of an AD or CVD order under 19 CFR 351.216,
and may revoke an order (in whole or in part), if it concludes that:
(i) producers accounting for substantially all of the production of the
domestic like product to which the order pertains have expressed a lack
of interest in the relief provided by the order, in whole or in part;
or (ii) if other changed circumstances sufficient to warrant revocation
exist. Thus, both the Act and Commerce's regulations require that
``substantially all'' domestic producers express a lack of interest in
the order for Commerce to revoke the order, in whole or in part.\7\ In
its administrative practice, Commerce has interpreted ``substantially
all'' to represent producers accounting for at least 85 percent of U.S.
production of the domestic like product.\8\
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\7\ See section 782(h) of the Act; and 19 CFR 351.222(g).
\8\ See, e.g., Honey from Argentina: Antidumping and
Countervailing Duty Changed Circumstances Reviews; Preliminary
Intent to Revoke Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Orders, 77 FR
67790, 67791 (November 14, 2012), unchanged in Honey from Argentina:
Final Results of Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Changed
Circumstances Reviews; Revocation of Antidumping and Countervailing
Duty Orders, 77 FR 77029 (December 31, 2012).
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Hello Tech submitted a letter from the Alliance, a coalition of
domestic producers of the domestic like product, which stated that the
Alliance did not oppose the changed circumstances reviews or the
specific exclusion language proposed by Hello Tech.\9\ In that letter,
the Alliance did not indicate its share of production of the domestic
like product.\10\ Thus, Commerce was unable to determine, at the time
that it initiated these CCRs, whether producers accounting for
substantially all of the U.S. production of the domestic like product
lacked interest in the Orders with respect to the off-grid small
portable CSPV panels under consideration here. As a result, Commerce
did not issue a combined notice of initiation and preliminary results
in these CCRs.\11\ Instead, as stated above, in the Initiation Notice,
Commerce invited interested parties to provide comments and/or factual
information regarding these CCRs, including comments on industry
support and the proposed partial revocation language. No party
submitted comments. Accordingly, we find that the domestic industry has
expressed no opposition with respect to the proposed revocation, in
part, of the Orders.
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\9\ See CCR Request at Exhibit 7.
\10\ Id.; see also Initiation Notice.
\11\ See Initiation Notice.
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In light of the Alliance's statement of lack of interest in
maintaining the Orders with respect to the off-grid small portable CSPV
panels described by Hello Tech, and in the absence of any other
interested party comments addressing the issue of domestic industry
support, we preliminarily conclude that producers accounting for
substantially all of the production of the domestic like product to
which the Orders pertain lack interest in the relief provided by the
Orders with respect to the off-grid small portable CSPV panels that are
the subject of Hello Tech's CCR request. Thus, we preliminarily
determine that changed circumstances warrant revocation of the Orders,
in part, with respect to such panels. Accordingly, we are notifying the
public of our intent to revoke the Orders, in part, with respect to the
off-grid small portable CSPV panels described in the ``Scope of the
CCRs'' section above.
If we make a final determination to revoke the Orders in part, then
Commerce will apply this determination to each order as follows.
Because we have completed administrative reviews of the Orders, the
partial revocation will be retroactively applied to unliquidated
entries of merchandise subject to the CCRs that were entered or
withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption, on or after the day
following the last day of the period covered by the most recently
completed administrative reviews of the Orders, and which are not
covered by automatic liquidation.
We will consider comments from interested parties on these
preliminary results before issuing the final results of these CCRs.\12\
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\12\ See, e.g., Aluminum Extrusions from the People's Republic
of China: Preliminary Results of Changed Circumstances Reviews, and
Intent to Revoke Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Orders in Part,
78 FR 66895 (November 7, 2013); and 19 CFR 351.222(g)(3)(v).
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Public Comment
Interested parties are invited to comment on these preliminary
results of CCRs in accordance with 19 CFR 351.309(c)(1)(ii). Written
comments may be submitted no later than 14 days after the date of
publication of these preliminary results in the Federal Register.
Rebuttal comments, limited to issues raised in written comments, may be
filed no later than seven days after the due date for initial
comments.\13\ All submissions must be filed electronically using
Enforcement and Compliance's Antidumping and Countervailing Duty
Centralized Electronic Service System
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(ACCESS).\14\ ACCESS is available to registered users at <a href="https://access.trade.gov">https://access.trade.gov</a>. An electronically filed document must be successfully
received in its entirety by ACCESS, by 5 p.m. Eastern Time on the
deadlines set forth in this notice. Note that Commerce has temporarily
modified certain of its requirements for serving documents containing
business proprietary information, until further notice.\15\
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\13\ See 19 CFR 351.309(d); see also Temporary Rule Modifying
AD/CVD Service Requirements Due to COVID-19; Extension of Effective
Period, 85 FR 41363 (July 10, 2020) (Temporary Rule).
\14\ See generally 19 CFR 351.303.
\15\ See Temporary Rule Modifying AD/CVD Service Requirements
Due to COVID-19; Extension of Effective Period, 85 FR 29615 (May 18,
2020); and Temporary Rule.
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Final Results of the CCRs
Commerce will issue the final results of these CCRs, which will
include its analysis of any written comments, no later than 270 days
after the date on which these reviews were initiated.\16\ If, in the
final results of these reviews, Commerce continues to determine that
changed circumstances warrant the revocation of the Orders, in part, we
will instruct U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to liquidate
without regard to ADs or CVDs, and to refund any estimated ADs and CVDs
deposited on all unliquidated entries of the merchandise covered by the
revocation that are not covered by the final results of an
administrative review or an automatic liquidation instruction to CBP.
The current requirement for cash deposits of estimated ADs and CVDs on
all entries of subject merchandise will continue unless they are
modified pursuant to the final results of these changed CCRs.
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\16\ See 19 CFR 351.216(e).
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These preliminary results of these reviews and this notice are
published in accordance with sections 751(b) and 777(i) of the Act and
19 CFR 351.216, 19 CFR 351.221(c)(3), and 19 CFR 351.222.
Dated: February 27, 2023.
Abdelali Elouaradia,
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance.
[FR Doc. 2023-04576 Filed 3-6-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P
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