Notice2024-22993
Crystalline Silicon Photovoltaic Cells, Whether or Not Assembled Into Modules, From Thailand: Preliminary Affirmative Countervailing Duty Determination, Preliminary Affirmative Critical Circumstances Determination, in Part, and Alignment of Final Determination With Final Antidumping Duty Determination
Primary source
Metadata and text below are from the Federal Register, a public-domain U.S. government work. Always verify the official published version before relying on it for any legal matter.
Published
October 4, 2024
Issuing agencies
Commerce DepartmentInternational Trade Administration
Abstract
The U.S. Department of Commerce (Commerce) preliminarily determines that countervailable subsidies are being provided to producers and exporters of crystalline silicon photovoltaic cells, whether or not assembled into modules (solar cells), from Thailand. The period of investigation (POI) is January 1, 2023, through December 31, 2023. Interested parties are invited to comment on this preliminary determination.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 89 Issue 193 (Friday, October 4, 2024)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 193 (Friday, October 4, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 80874-80877]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2024-22993]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
International Trade Administration
[C-549-852]
Crystalline Silicon Photovoltaic Cells, Whether or Not Assembled
Into Modules, From Thailand: Preliminary Affirmative Countervailing
Duty Determination, Preliminary Affirmative Critical Circumstances
Determination, in Part, and Alignment of Final Determination With Final
Antidumping Duty Determination
AGENCY: Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade Administration,
Department of Commerce.
SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of Commerce (Commerce) preliminarily
determines that countervailable subsidies are being provided to
producers and exporters of crystalline silicon photovoltaic cells,
whether or not assembled into modules (solar cells), from Thailand. The
period of investigation (POI) is January 1, 2023, through December 31,
2023. Interested parties are invited to comment on this preliminary
determination.
DATES: Applicable October 4, 2024.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Shane Subler or Henry Wolfe, AD/CVD
Operations, Office VIII, Enforcement and Compliance, International
Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution
Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-6241, and (202)
482-0574, respectively.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
This preliminary determination is made in accordance with section
703(b) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (the Act). Commerce
published the notice of initiation of this investigation on May 20,
2024.\1\ On July 3, 2024, Commerce postponed the preliminary
determination of this investigation.\2\ On July 22, 2024, Commerce
tolled certain deadlines in this administrative proceeding by seven
days.\3\ The deadline for the preliminary determination is now
September 30, 2024.
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\1\ See Crystalline Silicon Photovoltaic Cells, Whether or Not
Assembled Into Modules, From Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand, and the
Socialist Republic of Vietnam: Initiation of Countervailing Duty
Investigations, 89 FR 43816 (May 20, 2024) (Initiation Notice).
\2\ See Crystalline Silicon Photovoltaic Cells, Whether or Not
Assembled Into Modules, From Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand, and the
Socialist Republic of Vietnam: Postponement of Preliminary
Determination in the Countervailing Duty Investigation, 88 FR 43295
(July 3, 2024).
\3\ See Memorandum, ``Tolling of Deadlines for Antidumping and
Countervailing Duty Proceedings,'' dated July 22, 2024.
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For a complete description of the events that followed the
initiation of this investigation, see the Preliminary Decision
Memorandum.\4\ A list of topics discussed in the Preliminary Decision
Memorandum is included as Appendix II to this notice. The Preliminary
Decision Memorandum is a public document and is on file electronically
via Enforcement and Compliance's Antidumping and Countervailing Duty
Centralized Electronic Service System (ACCESS). ACCESS is available to
registered users at <a href="https://access.trade.gov">https://access.trade.gov</a>. In addition, a complete
version of the Preliminary Decision Memorandum can be accessed directly
at <a href="https://access.trade.gov/public/FRNoticesListLayout.aspx">https://access.trade.gov/public/FRNoticesListLayout.aspx</a>.
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\4\ See Memorandum, ``Decision Memorandum for the Preliminary
Affirmative Determination and Preliminary Affirmative Critical
Circumstances Determination, in Part, in the Countervailing Duty
Investigation of Crystalline Silicon Photovoltaic Cells, Whether or
Not Assembled into Modules, from Thailand,'' dated concurrently
with, and hereby adopted by, this notice (Preliminary Decision
Memorandum).
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Scope of the Investigation
The products covered by this investigation are solar cells. For a
complete description of the scope of this investigation, see Appendix
I.
Scope Comments
In accordance with the Preamble to Commerce's regulations,\5\ the
Initiation Notice set aside a period of time for parties to raise
issues regarding product coverage, (i.e., scope).\6\ We received
several comments concerning the scope of this investigation, as well as
in the companion less-than-fair-value (LTFV) and other countervailing
duty (CVD) investigations of solar cells, as it appeared in the
Initiation Notice. We intend to issue our preliminary decision
regarding the scope of the LTFV and CVD investigations in the
preliminary determinations of the companion LTFV investigations, the
deadline of which is November 27, 2024.\7\ We will
[[Page 80875]]
incorporate the scope decisions from the LTFV investigations into the
scope of the final CVD determination for this investigation after
considering any relevant comments submitted in scope case and rebuttal
briefs.\8\
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\5\ See Antidumping Duties; Countervailing Duties, Final Rule,
62 FR 27296, 27323 (May 19, 1997).
\6\ See Initiation Notice.
\7\ See Crystalline Silicon Photovoltaic Cells, Whether or Not
Assembled Into Modules, From Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand, and the
Socialist Republic of Vietnam: Postponement of Preliminary
Determinations in the Less-Than-Fair-Value Investigations 89 FR
77473 (September 23, 2024) (LTFV Prelim Postponement).
\8\ The deadline for interested parties to submit scope case and
rebuttal briefs will be established in the preliminary scope
decision memorandum.
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Methodology
Commerce is conducting this investigation in accordance with
section 701 of the Act. For each of the subsidy programs found to be
countervailable, Commerce preliminarily determines that there is a
subsidy, i.e., a financial contribution by an ``authority'' that gives
rise to a benefit to the recipient, and that the subsidy is
specific.\9\ In making its determination, Commerce relied, in part, on
facts otherwise available. Further, because Commerce found that certain
parties did not act to the best of their abilities to respond to
Commerce's requests for information, Commerce has drawn an adverse
inference where appropriate in selecting from among the facts otherwise
available.\10\ For a full description of the methodology underlying our
preliminary determination, see the Preliminary Decision Memorandum.
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\9\ See sections 771(5)(B) and (D) of the Act regarding
financial contribution; section 771(5)(E) of the Act regarding
benefit; and section 771(5A) of the Act regarding specificity.
\10\ See sections 776(a) and (b) of the Act.
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Preliminary Affirmative Determination of Critical Circumstances, in
Part
In accordance with section 703(e)(1) of the Act, Commerce
preliminarily determines that critical circumstances do not exist with
respect to mandatory respondent Trina Solar Science & Technology
(Thailand) Ltd. (TTL), which received a de minimis preliminary net
countervailable subsidy rate. However, Commerce preliminarily
determines that critical circumstances exist with respect to imports of
subject merchandise from (1) Sunshine Electrical Energy (Sunshine
Electrical); and (2) Taihua New Energy (Thailand) Co. Ltd. (Taihua New
Energy). Commerce also preliminary determines that critical
circumstances exist with respect to imports from all other producers
and exporters that enter subject merchandise under the All Others
subsidy rate. For a full description of the methodology and results of
Commerce's analysis, see the Preliminary Decision Memorandum.
Alignment
In accordance with section 705(a)(1) of the Act and 19 CFR
351.210(b)(4), Commerce is aligning the final CVD determination with
the final determination in the companion LTFV investigation of solar
cells from Thailand based on a request made by the petitioner.\11\
Consequently, the final CVD determination will be issued on the same
date as the final LTFV determination, which is currently scheduled to
be issued no later than February 10, 2025, unless postponed.
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\11\ See Petitioner's Letter, ``Request to Align Countervailing
Duty Investigation Final Determinations with Antidumping Duty
Investigation Final Determinations,'' dated September 23, 2024.
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All-Others Rate
Sections 703(d) and 705(c)(5)(A) of the Act state that in the
preliminary determination, Commerce shall determine an estimated all-
others rate for companies not individually examined. Section
705(c)(5)(A)(i) of the Act states that for companies not individually
investigated, Commerce will determine an ``all-others'' rate equal to
the weighted average countervailable subsidy rates established for
exporters and producers individually investigated, excluding any zero
and de minimis countervailable subsidy rates, and any rates determined
entirely under section 776 of the Act. If the rates established for all
exporters and producers individually investigated are zero, de minimis,
or determined entirely under facts available, Commerce may use any
reasonable method to establish an all-others rate.\12\ For this
preliminary determination, Commerce has determined Sunshine
Electrical's and Taihua New Energy's rates entirely under facts
available with an adverse inference. Additionally, TTL's preliminary
subsidy rate is de minimis. Therefore, in accordance with section
705(c)(5)(A)(ii) of the Act, we are preliminarily applying a simple
average of the subsidy rates calculated for Sunshine Electrical, Taihua
New Energy, and TTL as the all-others rate.\13\
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\12\ See sections 705(c)(5)(A)(i) and (ii) of the Act.
\13\ See, e.g., Non-Oriented Electrical Steel From Taiwan: Final
Affirmative Countervailing Duty Determination, 79 FR 71602 (October
14, 2014), and accompanying IDM at Comment 11.
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Preliminary Determination
Commerce preliminarily determines that the following estimated
countervailable subsidy rates exist:
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Subsidy rate
Company (percent ad
valorem)
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Trina Solar Science & Technology (Thailand) Ltd....... ** 0.14
Sunshine Electrical Energy............................ * 34.52
Taihua New Energy (Thailand) Co. Ltd.................. * 34.52
All Others............................................ 23.06
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* Rate based on facts available with adverse inferences.
** De minimis.
Suspension of Liquidation
With the exception of entries from TTL, in accordance with sections
703(d)(1)(B) and (d)(2) of the Act, Commerce will direct U.S. Customs
and Border Protection (CBP) to suspend liquidation of entries of
subject merchandise as described in Appendix I to this notice entered,
or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or after the date of
the publication of this notice in the Federal Register. Further,
pursuant to 19 CFR 351.205(d), Commerce will instruct CBP to require a
cash deposit equal to the rates indicated above. Because we
preliminarily determine that the CVD rate in this investigation for TTL
is de minimis, we will not direct CBP to suspend liquidation of TTL's
entries of the subject merchandise from Thailand.
Section 703(e)(2) of the Act provides that, given an affirmative
determination of critical circumstances, any suspension of liquidation
shall apply to unliquidated entries of subject merchandise entered, or
withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or after the later of: (a)
the date which is 90 days before the date on which the suspension of
liquidation was first ordered; or (b) the date on which notice of
initiation of the investigation was published in the Federal Register.
Commerce preliminarily finds that critical circumstances exist for
imports of subject merchandise produced and/or exported by: (1)
Sunshine Electrical; (2) Taihua New Energy, and, from all other
producers and exporters whose imports enter under the all others
subsidy rate. In accordance with section 703(e)(2)(A) of the Act, the
suspension of liquidation shall apply to unliquidated entries of
merchandise from the exporters/producers identified in this paragraph
that were entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or
after the date which is 90 days before the publication of this notice
in the Federal Register.
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Disclosure
Commerce intends to disclose its calculations and analysis
performed to interested parties in this preliminary determination
within five days of its public announcement, or if there is no public
announcement, within five days of the date of this notice in accordance
with 19 CFR 351.224(b).
Consistent with 19 CFR 351.224(e), Commerce will analyze and, if
appropriate, correct any timely allegations of significant ministerial
errors by amending the preliminary determination. However, consistent
with 19 CFR 351.224(d), Commerce will not consider incomplete
allegations that do not address the significance standard under 19 CFR
351.224(g) following the preliminary determination. Instead, Commerce
will address such allegations in the final determination together with
issues raised in the case briefs or other written comments.
Verification
As provided in section 782(i)(1) of the Act, Commerce intends to
verify the information relied upon in making its final determination.
Public Comment
All interested parties will have the opportunity to submit scope
case and rebuttal briefs on the preliminary decision regarding the
scope of the LTFV and CVD investigations. The deadlines to submit scope
case and rebuttal briefs will be provided in the preliminary scope
decision memorandum. For all scope case and rebuttal briefs, parties
must file identical documents simultaneously on the records of the
ongoing LTFV and CVD solar cell investigations. No new factual
information or business proprietary information may be included in
either scope case or rebuttal briefs.
Case briefs or other written comments may be submitted to the
Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance no later than seven
days after the date on which the last verification report is issued in
this investigation.\14\ A timeline for the submission of case briefs
and written comments will be notified to interested parties at a later
date. Rebuttal briefs, limited to issues raised in the case briefs, may
be filed not later than five days after the date for filing case
briefs.\15\ Interested parties who submit case briefs or rebuttal
briefs in this proceeding must submit: (1) a table of contents listing
each issue; and (2) a table of authorities.\16\
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\14\ See 19 CFR 351.309(c)(1)(i); see also 19 CFR 351.303 (for
general filing requirements).
\15\ See 19 CFR 351.309(d); see also Administrative Protective
Order, Service, and Other Procedures in Antidumping and
Countervailing Duty Proceedings, 88 FR 67069, 67077 (September 29,
2023) (APO and Service Final Rule).
\16\ See 19 351.309(c)(2) and (d)(2).
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As provided under 19 CFR 351.309(c)(2) and (d)(2), in prior
proceedings we have encouraged interested parties to provide an
executive summary of their brief that should be limited to five pages
total, including footnotes. In this investigation, we instead request
that interested parties provide at the beginning of their briefs a
public, executive summary for each issue raised in their briefs.\17\
Further, we request that interested parties limit their public,
executive summary of each issue to no more than 450 words, not
including citations. We intend to use the public, executive summaries
as the basis of the comment summaries included in the issues and
decision memorandum that will accompany the final determination in this
investigation. We request that interested parties include footnotes for
relevant citations in the public, executive summary of each issue. Note
that Commerce has amended certain of its requirements pertaining to the
service of documents in 19 CFR 351.303(f).\18\
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\17\ We use the term ``issue'' here to describe an argument that
Commerce would normally address in a comment of the Issues and
Decision Memorandum.
\18\ See APO and Service Final Rule.
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Pursuant to 19 CFR 351.310(c), interested parties who wish to
request a hearing, limited to issues raised in the case and rebuttal
briefs, must submit a written request to the Assistant Secretary for
Enforcement and Compliance, U.S. Department of Commerce within 30 days
after the date of publication of this notice. Requests should contain
the party's name, address, and telephone number, the number of
participants, whether any participant is a foreign national, and a list
of the issues to be discussed. If a request for a hearing is made,
Commerce intends to hold the hearing at a time and date to be
determined. Parties should confirm by telephone the date, time, and
location of the hearing two days before the scheduled date.
U.S. International Trade Commission Notification
In accordance with section 703(f) of the Act, Commerce will notify
the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) of its determination. If
the final determination is affirmative, the ITC will determine before
the later of 120 days after the date of this preliminary determination
or 45 days after the final determination whether imports of solar cells
from Thailand are materially injuring, or threaten material injury to,
the U.S. industry.\19\
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\19\ See section 705(b)(2) of the Act.
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Notification to Interested Parties
This determination is issued and published pursuant to sections
703(f) and 777(i) of the Act, and 19 CFR 351.205(c).
Dated: September 30, 2024.
Ryan Majerus,
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy and Negotiations, performing the
non-exclusive functions and duties of the Assistant Secretary for
Enforcement and Compliance.
Appendix I
Scope of the Investigation
The merchandise covered by this investigation is crystalline
silicon photovoltaic cells, and modules, laminates, and panels,
consisting of crystalline silicon photovoltaic cells, whether or not
partially or fully assembled into other products, including, but not
limited to, modules, laminates, panels and building integrated
materials.
This investigation covers 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 materials (including, but not limited
to, metallization and conductor patterns) to collect and forward the
electricity that is generated by the cell.
Merchandise under consideration may be described at the time of
importation as parts for final finished products that are assembled
after importation, including, but not limited to, modules,
laminates, panels, building-integrated modules, building-integrated
panels, or other finished goods kits. Such parts that otherwise meet
the definition of merchandise under consideration are included in
the scope of the investigation.
Excluded from the scope of the investigation 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 the investigation are
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 cell. Where more than one cell is permanently
integrated into a consumer good, the surface area for purposes of
this exclusion shall be the total combined surface area of all cells
that are integrated into the consumer good.
Additionally, excluded from the scope of the investigation are
panels with surface area
[[Page 80877]]
from 3,450 mm\2\ to 33,782 mm\2\ with one black wire and one red
wire (each of type 22 AWG or 24 AWG not more than 206 mm in length
when measured from panel extrusion), and not exceeding 2.9 volts,
1.1 amps, and 3.19 watts. For the purposes of this exclusion, no
panel shall contain an internal battery or external computer
peripheral ports.
Also excluded from the scope of the investigation are:
(1) Off grid CSPV panels in rigid form with a glass cover, with
the following characteristics: (A) a total power output of 100 watts
or less per panel; (B) a maximum surface area of 8,000 cm\2\ per
panel; (C) do not include a built-in inverter; (D) must include a
permanently connected wire that terminates in either an 8 mm male
barrel connector, or a two-port rectangular connector with two pins
in square housings of different colors; (E) must include visible
parallel grid collector metallic wire lines every 1-4 millimeters
across each solar cell; and (F) must be in individual retail
packaging (for purposes of this provision, retail packaging
typically includes graphics, the product name, its description and/
or features, and foam for transport); and
(2) Off grid CSPV panels without a glass cover, with the
following characteristics: (A) a total power output of 100 watts or
less per panel; (B) a maximum surface area of 8,000 cm\2\ per panel;
(C) do not include a built-in inverter; (D) must include visible
parallel grid collector metallic wire lines every 1-4 millimeters
across each solar cell; and (E) each panel is (1) permanently
integrated into a consumer good; (2) encased in a laminated material
without stitching, or (3) has all of the following characteristics:
(i) the panel is encased in sewn fabric with visible stitching, (ii)
includes a mesh zippered storage pocket, and (iii) includes a
permanently attached wire that terminates in a female USB-A
connector.
In addition, the following CSPV panels are excluded from the
scope of the investigation: off-grid CSPV panels in rigid form with
a glass cover, with each of the following physical characteristics,
whether or not assembled into a fully completed off-grid hydropanel
whose function is conversion of water vapor into liquid water: (A) a
total power output of no more than 80 watts per panel; (B) a surface
area of less than 5,000 square centimeters (cm\2\) per panel; (C) do
not include a built-in inverter; (D) do not have a frame around the
edges of the panel; (E) include a clear glass back panel; and (F)
must include a permanently connected wire that terminates in a
twoport rectangular connector.
Additionally excluded from the scope of this investigation are
off-grid small portable crystalline silicon photovoltaic panels,
with or without a glass cover, with the following characteristics:
(1) a total power output of 200 watts or less per panel; (2) a
maximum surface area of 16,000 cm\2\ per panel; (3) no built-in
inverter; (4) an integrated handle or a handle attached to the
package for ease of carry; (5) one or more integrated kickstands for
easy installation or angle adjustment; and (6) a wire of not less
than 3 meters either permanently connected or attached to the
package that terminates in an 8 mm diameter male barrel connector.
Also excluded from the scope of this investigation are off-grid
crystalline silicon photovoltaic panels in rigid form with a glass
cover, with each of the following physical characteristics, whether
or not assembled into a fully completed off-grid hydropanel whose
function is conversion of water vapor into liquid water: (A) a total
power output of no more than 180 watts per panel at 155 degrees
Celsius; (B) a surface area of less than 16,000 square centimeters
(cm\2\) per panel; (C) include a keep-out area of approximately
1,200 cm\2\ around the edges of the panel that does not contain
solar cells; (D) do not include a built-in inverter; (E) do not have
a frame around the edges of the panel; (F) include a clear glass
back panel; (G) must include a permanently connected wire that
terminates in a two-port rounded rectangular, sealed connector; (H)
include a thermistor installed into the permanently connected wire
before the twoport connector; and (I) include exposed positive and
negative terminals at opposite ends of the panel, not enclosed in a
junction box.
Modules, laminates, and panels produced in a third-country from
cells produced in a subject country are covered by the
investigation; however, modules, laminates, and panels produced in a
subject country from cells produced in a third-country are not
covered by the investigation.
Also excluded from the scope of this investigation are all
products covered by the scope of the antidumping and countervailing
duty orders on Crystalline Silicon Photovoltaic Cells, Whether or
Not Assembled into Modules, from the People's Republic of China:
Amended Final Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value, and
Antidumping Duty Order, 77 FR 73018 (December 7, 2012); and
Crystalline Silicon Photovoltaic Cells, Whether or Not Assembled
into Modules, from the People's Republic of China: Countervailing
Duty Order, 77 FR 73017 (December 7, 2012).
Merchandise covered by the investigation is currently classified
in the Harmonized Tariff System of the United States (HTSUS) under
subheadings 8541.42.0010 and 8541.43.0010. Imports of the subject
merchandise may enter under HTSUS subheadings 8501.71.0000,
8501.72.1000, 8501.72.2000, 8501.72.3000, 8501.72.9000,
8501.80.1000, 8501.80.2000, 8501.80.3000, 8501.80.9000,
8507.20.8010, 8507.20.8031, 8507.20.8041, 8507.20.8061, and
8507.20.8091. These HTSUS subheadings are provided for convenience
and customs purposes; the written description of the scope of the
investigation is dispositive.
Appendix II
List of Topics Discussed in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum
I. Summary
II. Background
III. Scope Comments
IV. Alignment
V. Injury Test
VI. Allegation of Critical Circumstances
VII. Use of Facts Otherwise Available and Adverse Inferences
VIII. Subsidies Valuation Information
IX. Benchmarks for Measuring the Adequacy of Remuneration
X. Analysis of Programs
XI. Calculation of the All-Others Rate
XII. Critical Circumstances
XIII. Recommendation
[FR Doc. 2024-22993 Filed 10-3-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P
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This is legal information, not legal advice. Laws vary by jurisdiction and change frequently. Always verify current law with official sources and consult a licensed attorney in your jurisdiction for advice on your specific situation.