Safeguard Duties Requested on Solar Panels and Modules

The safeguard duties would apply to all imported modules, laminates and panels, regardless of origin, including those produced in any third country from cells produced in any third country, but would not cover modules, laminates and panels produced in a third country from cells produced in the U.S., Suniva said. Suniva says two antidumping and countervailing duty orders recently imposed on solar cells and modules from China and Taiwan have been ineffective. Chinese and Taiwanese companies covered by the AD/CV duty orders have avoided them by opening up factories or working with contract manufacturers in Southeast Asia, India and Eastern Europe.

The U.S. solar industry would disappear without imposition of safeguard duties, Suniva said. “While this action is not undertaken lightly, the fact is the American [solar] cells and modules industry is disintegrating. This industry simply cannot survive in a market where foreign [solar] cell and module imports into the United States have unexpectedly exploded and prices have collapsed,” it said. “At least eight domestic [solar] cell and module producers have been forced to file for bankruptcy, shut down production facilities, or lay off employees since 2012.” Suniva itself recently declared bankruptcy, and further closures of domestic factories “are anticipated in 2017,” it said.

Proposed Scope of Duties

The merchandise covered by this petition 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 petition 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.

Included in the scope of this petition are photovoltaic cells that contain crystalline silicon in addition to other photovoltaic materials. This includes, but is not limited to, passivated emitter rear contact (PERC) cells, heterojunction with intrinsic thin-layer (HIT) cells, and other so-called “hybrid” cells.

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 this petition.

Excluded from this petition are thin film photovoltaic products produced from amorphous silicon (a-Si), cadmium telluride (CdTe) or copper iridium gallium selenide (CIGS).

Also excluded from the scope of this petition are crystalline silicon photovoltaic cells, not exceeding 10,000 mm2 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.

Petition Seeks Duties on Cells, Minimum Price for Modules

The petition seeks four years of relief of an initial duty rate on cells of $0.40/watt, along with an initial floor price on modules of $0.78/watt. That would fall to a duty on cells of $0.37/watt and a minimum floor of $0.72/watt per module in year two; $0.34/watt and a minimum floor of $0.69/watt per module in year three; and $0.33/watt and a minimum floor of $0.68/watt per module in year four.

Suniva is also asking for “other equitable remedies that will effectively assist the domestic industry to make a positive adjustment to import competition,” including distribution of antidumping and countervailing duties collected on solar cells from China and solar products from China and Taiwan, and an “economic investment development program” for the U.S. solar cells industry funded by AD/CV duty collections. The petition also asks for a recommendation that the president “negotiate with trading partners to address the global supply imbalance and overcapacity in [solar] cells and modules.” Safeguard duties are imposed for a maximum of four years, but may be extended to eight years.

Provisional Determination Due Mid-July

The ITC is currently evaluating the petition for “legal sufficiency,” it said in a fact sheet (here). If it decides to institute an investigation, it will publish a notice in the Federal Register. The ITC then has 120 days to determine whether imports of solar panels and modules are injuring U.S. industry. If it finds injury, it will then decide what remedies should be imposed. Public hearings would be held for each phase, it said. The ITC would then submit its recommendations to the president, who would decide whether to impose the safeguard duty. The report to the president is due in 180 days (i.e., by Oct. 23).

Though safeguard investigations are not country-specific, and duties would apply to all countries, ITC commissioners who find injury to U.S. industry must make additional separate injury findings for certain countries with which the U.S. has free trade agreements, the ITC said. “These include the NAFTA countries (Canada and Mexico), Jordan, Australia, Colombia, Korea, Panama, Peru, Singapore, the CAFTA-DR countries, and Israel,” it said.

Email ITTNews@warren-news.com for a copy of the petition.