83 FR 1235 - Crystalline Silicon Photovoltaic Cells, Whether or Not Assembled Into Modules, From the People's Republic of China: Preliminary Results of Countervailing Duty Administrative Review, and Rescission of Review, in Part; 2015

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
International Trade Administration

Federal Register Volume 83, Issue 7 (January 10, 2018)

The 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 the People's Republic of China (China). The period of review (POR) is January 1, 2015, through December 31, 2015.

[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 7 (Wednesday, January 10, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 1235-1237]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2018-00103]



[[Page 1235]]

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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[C-570-980]


Crystalline Silicon Photovoltaic Cells, Whether or Not Assembled 
Into Modules, From the People's Republic of China: Preliminary Results 
of Countervailing Duty Administrative Review, and Rescission of Review, 
in Part; 2015

AGENCY: Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade Administration, 
Department of Commerce.

SUMMARY: The 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 the People's Republic of 
China (China). The period of review (POR) is January 1, 2015, through 
December 31, 2015.

DATES: Applicable January 10, 2018.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Gene H. Calvert, 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) 482-3586.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    On December 7, 2012, Commerce issued a countervailing duty (CVD) 
order on solar cells from China.\1\ Several interested parties 
requested that Commerce conduct an administrative review of the CVD 
order, and on February 13, 2017, Commerce published in the Federal 
Register a notice of initiation of an administrative review of the 
Order for 54 producers/exporters for the POR.\2\
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    \1\ See 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) (Order).
    \2\ See Initiation of Antidumping and Countervailing Duty 
Administrative Reviews, 82 FR 10457 (February 13, 2017) (Initiation 
Notice).
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Scope of the Order

    The merchandise subject to the Order 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. For a 
complete description of the scope of this administrative review, see 
the Preliminary Decision Memorandum.\3\
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    \3\ See Memorandum, ``Decision Memorandum for Preliminary 
Results of the Countervailing Duty Administrative Review of 
Crystalline Silicon Photovoltaic Cells, Whether or Not Assembled 
Into Modules, from the People's Republic of China; 2015,'' 
(Preliminary Decision Memorandum), dated concurrently with, and 
hereby adopted by, this notice.
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Rescission of Administrative Review, in Part

    Pursuant to 19 CFR 351.213(d)(1), the Secretary will rescind an 
administrative review, in whole or in part, if the parties that 
requested a review withdraw the request within 90 days of the date of 
publication of the notice of initiation of the requested review. This 
review was initiated on February 13, 2017. Between January 30, 2017, 
and May 15, 2017, we received timely withdrawals of the requests for 
review, for which no other parties requested a review, for the 
following companies: Yingli Green Energy Holding Company Limited; \4\ 
BYD (Shangluo) Industrial Co., Ltd., and Shanghai BYD Co., Ltd.\5\ 
Therefore, because there are no remaining requests to review these 
three companies, in accordance with 19 CFR 351.213(d)(1), and 
consistent with our practice, we are rescinding this review with 
respect to the three aforementioned companies.
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    \4\ See Letter from the petitioner, ``Certain Silicon 
Photovoltaic Cells, Whether or Not Assembled into Modules, from the 
People's Republic of China: Partial Withdrawal Request for 
Administrative Review,'' dated January 30, 2017; and Letter from 
Yingli, ``Countervailing Duty Order on Crystalline Silicon 
Photovoltaic Cells, Whether or Not Assembled into Modules: Yingli's 
Withdrawal of Request for Administrative Review,'' dated May 15, 
2017.
    \5\ See Letter from the petitioner, ``Crystalline Silicon 
Photovoltaic Cells, Whether or Not Assembled into Modules, from the 
People's Republic of China: Withdrawal of Administrative Review 
Request,'' dated (May 15, 2017), and Letter from Shanghai BYD, 
``Crystalline Silicon Photovoltaic Cells, Whether Or Not Assembled 
Into Modules, from the People's Republic of China: Withdrawal Notice 
of Shanghai BYD and Shangluo BYD,'' dated May 15, 2017.
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Methodology

    Commerce is conducting this administrative review in accordance 
with section 751(a)(1)(A) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (the 
Act). For each of the subsidy programs found countervailable, we 
preliminarily find that there is a subsidy, (i.e., a financial 
contribution from an authority that gives rise to a benefit to the 
recipient) and that the subsidy is specific.\6\ In making this 
preliminary determination, Commerce relied, in part, on facts otherwise 
available, with the application of adverse inferences.\7\ For further 
information, see ``Use of Facts Otherwise Available and Application of 
Adverse Inferences'' in the accompanying Preliminary Decision 
Memorandum. A list of topics discussed in the Preliminary Decision 
Memorandum is provided at Appendix I to this notice.
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    \6\ 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.
    \7\ See section 776(a) of the Act.
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    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 http://access.trade.gov, and 
is available to all parties in the Central Records Unit, room B8024 of 
the main Department of Commerce building. In addition, a complete 
version of the Preliminary Decision Memorandum can be accessed directly 
at http://enforcement.trade.gov/frn/. The signed Preliminary Decision 
Memorandum and the electronic version of the Preliminary Decision 
Memorandum are identical in content.

Preliminary Results of Review

    As a result of this review, we preliminarily determine the 
countervailable subsidy rates to be:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                Subsidy
                           Company                                rate
                                                               (percent)
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Canadian Solar Inc. and its Cross-Owned Affiliates \8\.......      13.72
Changzhou Trina Solar Energy Co., Ltd. and its Cross-Owned         10.93
 Affiliates 9 10.............................................
Non-Selected Companies Under Review..........................      12.64
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Preliminary Rate for Non-Selected Companies Under Review

    The statute and Commerce's regulations do not directly address the

[[Page 1236]]

establishment of rates to be applied to companies not selected for 
individual examination where Commerce limits its examination in an 
administrative review pursuant to section 777A(e)(2) of the Act. 
However, Commerce normally determines the rates for non-selected 
companies in reviews in a manner that is consistent with section 
705(c)(5) of the Act, which provides instructions for calculating the 
all-others rate in an investigation. Section 705(c)(5)(A)(i) of the Act 
instructs Commerce, as a general rule, to calculate an all others rate 
using the weighted average of the subsidy weights established for the 
producers/exporters individually examined, excluding any zero, de 
minimis, or rates based entirely on facts available. For the companies 
for which a review was requested that were not selected as mandatory 
company respondents, and for which we did not receive a timely request 
for withdrawal of review, and for which we are not finding to be cross-
owned with the mandatory company respondents, we based the subsidy rate 
on a weighted-average of the subsidy rates calculated for the two 
mandatory respondents, Canadian Solar Inc. and Changzhou Trina Solar 
Energy Co., Ltd, using their publicly-ranged sales data for exports of 
subject merchandise to the United States during the POR. A list of 
these non-selected companies can be found in Appendix II of notice.
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    \8\ Cross-owned affiliates are: Canadian Solar Inc.; Canadian 
Solar Manufacturing (Luoyang) Inc.; Canadian Solar Manufacturing 
(Changshu) Inc.; CSI Cells Co., Ltd.; CSI Solar Power (China) Inc.; 
CSI Solartronics (Changshu) Co., Ltd.; CSI Solar Technologies Inc.; 
CSI Solar Manufacture Inc. (name was changed to CSI New Energy 
Holding Co., Ltd. in July 2015); CSI-GCL Solar Manufacturing 
(Yancheng) Co., Ltd.; Changshu Tegu New Materials Technology Co., 
Ltd.; Changshu Tlian Co., Ltd.; and Suzhou Sanysolar Materials 
Technology Co., Ltd. See Preliminary Decision Memorandum.
    \9\ Cross-owned affiliates are: Changzhou Trina Solar Energy 
Co., Ltd.; Trina Solar (Changzhou) Science and Technology Co., Ltd.; 
Yancheng Trina Solar Energy Technology Co., Ltd.; Changzhou Trina 
Solar Yabang Energy Co., Ltd.; Hubei Trina Solar Energy Co., Ltd.; 
Turpan Trina Solar Energy Co., Ltd.; and Changzhou Trina PV Ribbon 
Materials Co., Ltd. See Preliminary Decision Memorandum.
    \10\ See Appendix II of this notice for a list of all companies 
that remain under review but were not selected for individual 
examination, and to whom we have preliminarily assigned the non-
selected company rate.
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Disclosure and Public Comment

    Commerce will disclose to parties to this proceeding the 
calculations performed in reaching the preliminary results within five 
days of the date of publication of these preliminary results.\11\ 
Interested parties may submit written comments (case briefs) at a date 
to be determined by Commerce and rebuttal comments (rebuttal briefs) 
within five days after the time limit for filing case briefs.\12\ 
Rebuttal briefs must be limited to issues raised in the case 
briefs.\13\ Commerce will notify interested parties when it has 
determined a deadline for case briefs. Parties who submit case or 
rebuttal briefs are requested to submit with the argument: (1) A 
statement of the issue; (2) a brief summary of the argument; and (3) a 
table of authorities.\14\
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    \11\ See 19 CFR 351.224(b).
    \12\ See 19 CFR 351.309(c)(l)(ii) and 351.309(d)(l). Interested 
parties will be notified through ACCESS regarding the deadline for 
submitting case briefs.
    \13\ See 19 CFR 351.309(d)(2).
    \14\ See 19 CFR 351.309(c)(2) and (d)(2).
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    Interested parties who wish to request a hearing must do so within 
30 days of publication of these preliminary results by submitting a 
written request to the Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and 
Compliance, U.S. Department of Commerce, using Enforcement and 
Compliance's ACCESS system.\15\ Hearing requests should contain the 
party's name, address, and telephone number, the number of 
participants, and a list of the issues to be discussed. If a request 
for a hearing is made, we will inform parties of the scheduled date for 
the hearing, which will be held at the U.S. Department of Commerce, 
14th Street and Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20230, at a time 
and location to be determined.\16\ Parties should confirm by telephone 
the date, time, and location of the hearing. Issues addressed at the 
hearing will be limited to those raised in the briefs.\17\ All briefs 
and hearing requests must be filed electronically and received 
successfully in their entirety through ACCESS by 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time 
by their respective deadlines.
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    \15\ See 19 CFR 351.310(c).
    \16\ See 19 CFR 351.310.
    \17\ See 19 CFR 351.310(c).
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    Unless the deadline is extended pursuant to section 751(a)(3)(A) of 
the Act, Commerce intends to issue the final results of this 
administrative review, including the results of our analysis of the 
issues raised by the parties in their comments, within 120 days after 
publication of these preliminary results.

Assessment Rates and Cash Deposit Requirement

    In accordance with 19 CFR 351.221(b)(4)(i), we assigned a subsidy 
rate for each producer/exporter subject to this administrative review. 
Upon issuance of the final results, Commerce shall determine, and U.S. 
Customs and Border Protection (CBP) shall assess, countervailing duties 
on all appropriate entries covered by this review. We intend to issue 
instructions to CBP 15 days after publication of the final results of 
review. For companies for which this review is rescinded, Commerce will 
instruct CBP to assess countervailing duties on all appropriate entries 
at a rate equal to the cash deposit of estimated countervailing duties 
required at the time of entry, or withdrawal from warehouse, for 
consumption, during the period January 1, 2015, through December 31, 
2015, in accordance with 19 CFR 351.212(c)(1)(i). Commerce intends to 
issue appropriate assessment instructions directly to CBP 15 days after 
publication of this notice.
    Pursuant to section 751(a)(2)(C) of the Act, Commerce also intends 
to instruct CBP to collect cash deposits of estimated countervailing 
duties, in the amounts shown above for each of the respective companies 
shown above, on shipments of subject merchandise entered, or withdrawn 
from warehouse, for consumption on or after the date of publication of 
the final results of this review. For all non-reviewed firms, we will 
instruct CBP to continue to collect cash deposits at the most-recent 
company-specific or all-others rate applicable to the company, as 
appropriate. These cash deposit requirements, when imposed, shall 
remain in effect until further notice.
    These preliminary results of review are issued and published in 
accordance with sections 751(a)(l) and 777(i)(l) of the Act and 19 CFR 
351.213 and 351.221(b)(4).

    Dated: January 2, 2018.
P. Lee Smith,
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy and Negotiations.

Appendix I--List of Topics Discussed in the Preliminary Decision 
Memorandum

I. Summary
II. Background
III. Partial Rescission of Administrative Review
IV. Non-Selected Companies Under Review
V. Scope of the Order
VI. Application of the Countervailing Duty Law to Imports From China
VII. Diversification of China's Economy
VIII. Subsidies Valuation
IX. Interest Rate Benchmarks, Discount Rates, Inputs, Electricity, 
and Land Benchmarks
X. Use of Facts Otherwise Available and Application of Adverse 
Inferences
XI. Analysis of Programs
XII. Verification
XIII. Disclosure and Public Comment
XIV. Conclusion

Appendix II--Non-Selected Companies Under Review

1. Baoding Jiasheng Photovoltaic Technology Co., Ltd.
2. Baoding Tianwei Yingli New Energy Resources Co., Ltd.
3. Beijing Tianneng Yingli New Energy Resources Co., Ltd.
4. Canadian Solar International, Ltd.
5. Chint Solar (Zhejiang) Co., Ltd.
6. Dongguan Sunworth Solar Energy Co., Ltd.
7. ERA Solar Co., Ltd.
8. ET Solar Energy Limited
9. ET Solar Industry Limited
10. Hainan Yingli New Energy Resources Co., Ltd.
11. Hangzhou Sunny Energy Science and Technology Co., Ltd.
12. Hangzhou Zhejiang University Sunny Energy Science and Technology 
Co., Ltd.
13. Hengdian Group DMEGC Magnetics Co., Ltd.

[[Page 1237]]

14. Hengshui Yingli New Energy Resources Co., Ltd.
15. Shanghai JA Solar Technology Co., Ltd.
16. JA Solar Technology Yangzhou Co., Ltd.
17. Jiangsu High Hope Int'l Group
18. Jiawei Solarchina Co., Ltd.
19. Jiawei Solarchina (Shenzhen) Co., Ltd.
20. JingAo Solar Co., Ltd.
21. Jinko Solar Co., Ltd.
22. Jinko Solar Import and Export Co., Ltd.
23. Jinko Solar International Limited
24. Jinko Solar (U.S.) Inc.
25. Lightway Green New Energy Co., Ltd.
26. Lixian Yingli New Energy Resources Co., Ltd.
27. Luoyang Suntech Power Co., Ltd.
28. Ningbo Qixin Solar Electrical Appliance Co., Ltd.
29. Risen Energy Co., Ltd.
30. Shanghai JA Solar Technology Co., Ltd.
31. Shenzhen Glory Industries Co., Ltd.
32. Shenzhen Topray Solar Co., Ltd.
33. Sumec Hardware & Tools Co. Ltd.
34. Systemes Versilis, Inc.
35. Taizhou BD Trade Co., Ltd.
36. tenKsolar (Shanghai) Co., Ltd.
37. Tianjin Yingli New Energy Resources Co., Ltd.
38. Toenergy Technology Hangzhou Co., Ltd.
39. Wuxi Suntech Power Co., Ltd.
40. Yingli Energy (China) Co., Ltd.
41. Yingli Green Energy Holding Company Limited
42. Zhejiang Era Solar Technology Co., Ltd.
43. Zhejiang Jinko Solar Co., Ltd.
44. Zhejiang Sunflower Light Energy Science & Technology Limited 
Liability Company

[FR Doc. 2018-00103 Filed 1-9-18; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P