US DOC initiates circumvention inquiries against solar cells and modules from Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam
Global, USA April 14 2022

Renewables Alert
International Trade Alert

International trade issues continue to materially impact solar development in the US. Most recently, the US Department of Commerce (DOC) published a notice on April 1, 2022 initiating country-wide inquiries to determine whether imports of solar cells and modules from Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam are circumventing antidumping and countervailing duty (AD/CVD) orders on Chinese crystalline silicon photovoltaic (CSPV) cells and modules.

As previously discussed here, Auxin Solar Inc. filed a petition in February alleging that certain Chinese CSPV producers are circumventing the AD/CVD orders on CSPV cells and modules from China by producing and assembling them, using Chinese-made components, in Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam.

The DOC’s initiation notice can be found here. If successful, the petition could lead to the imposition of additional duties on imports from those countries or other restrictions. Such duties could be applied retroactively to entries before April 1, 2022 and, based on past rates, could be as much as or in excess of 250 percent of the price of the applicable CSPV cells and modules.

As a result of these issues, developers are reviewing available supply options, delaying projects in development and seeking to negotiate relief in key agreements from the additional costs and delays that may result from the existing and potential duties.

Scope of the circumvention inquiries

The merchandise covered by the circumvention inquiries includes certain CSPV cells and modules produced or assembled in Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam with components which originate in China. The petition names specific manufacturers in each of those locations.

In 2021, the DOC rejected allegations that certain Chinese-origin CSPV cells and modules were circumventing AD/CVD by being shipped through or further processed in Vietnam, Thailand and Malaysia. The earlier petition was filed anonymously. This latest petition was initiated by an identified US manufacturer, and Cambodia was also added to the list of relevant jurisdictions in which circumvention has been alleged.

In assessing the allegations, the DOC will be making a determination as to whether the statutory requirements are met, including whether the activities in the named countries as to the manufacture or completion of relevant CSPV cells and modules are “minor or insignificant.”[1]

Estimated schedule of the preliminary and final determinations

Under the time schedule for circumvention inquiries, the DOC must issue its preliminary determination within 150 days (August 29, 2022) and final determination within 300 days (January 26, 2023; unless extended by 65 days) from the publication date of the initiation notice.

Potential certification requirements

In circumstances where the DOC reaches an affirmative determination in circumvention inquiries, the agency often implements a certification program for US importers. If the DOC were to reach affirmative determinations in these inquiries, the agency would likely require certifications allowing US importers to demonstrate that CSPV cells and modules from Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand, or Vietnam were not manufactured with Chinese-origin components. The entries that satisfy the certification requirements would not be subject to AD/CVD resulting from the affirmative decisions in the circumvention inquiries.

While the certification requirements are not complex, importers need to have evidence supporting that the CSPV cells and modules were not manufactured in the subject countries using components originating from China.

Consequences for US importers of subject merchandise

If the DOC reaches affirmative determinations, imports of CSPV cells and modules from Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam manufactured with Chinese-origin components will be presumed to be subject to the China CSPV AD/CVD orders and the corresponding cash deposit rates.

Specifically, the DOC will direct US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to continue suspension of liquidation of previously suspended entries and apply the relevant cash deposit rate. In addition, the DOC will direct CBP to begin suspension of liquidation and require the applicable cash deposit rate for each unliquidated entry of the product not yet suspended, entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or after the date of publication of the notice of initiation. In the proceedings related to the China CSPV AD/CVD orders, the DOC has assessed rates well in excess of 250 percent of the price of the equipment.

In certain circumstances, such duties can be applied retroactively to entries before the publication of the initiation notice. Specifically, the DOC has discretion to apply AD/CVD retroactively before the date of publication of the initiation notice if an interested party has filed a timely request and provided sufficient evidence that warrants such a decision. Here, Auxin requested retroactive application of AD/CVD on March 21, 2022. DOC will make a determination on this request in its preliminary and/or final determinations.

We note that, as to the existing AD/CVD orders and related duties, certain manufacturers have obtained separate rates through administrative reviews as low as 0 percent for AD and 19.28 percent for CVD. These rates are subject to administrative reviews if requested. In such reviews, the manufacturers/exporters would need to demonstrate entitlement to such lower rates.

Going forward

US importers of CSPV cells and modules from Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam should closely monitor these circumvention inquiries. Among other things, interested parties – including solar developers, and US and foreign producers – should develop a strategy for addressing the possible outcomes of the circumvention inquiries and navigating the existing landscape of existing panel tariffs and duties.
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More details here:
March 29, 2022 1:07 AM
U.S. to consider tariffs on solar panels made in Southeast Asia
By Nichola Groom
3 minute read

March 28 (Reuters) - U.S. trade officials on Monday said they will launch an investigation that could result in tariffs on solar panels imported from four Southeast Asian nations, a blow to clean energy project developers that rely on cheap imports to keep costs down.

The Commerce Department's decision regarding imports from Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia was a victory for Auxin Solar. The San Jose, California-based solar manufacturer this year requested the probe, arguing that Chinese manufacturers shifted production to those nations to avoid paying U.S. duties in place for nearly a decade on Chinese-made solar goods.

Auxin's petition is the latest in a string of efforts by U.S. solar producers to stem the flow of cheap Asian panels that they argue make their products unable to compete in the market.

Solar industry trade groups said the investigation alone would immediately hamstring project development and harm U.S. progress in addressing climate change. President Joe Biden has set a goal of weaning the U.S. electricity sector off of fossil fuels by 2035, a target that could propel solar to supply up to 40% of the nation's electricity needs - up from 3% currently.

Imports from the four countries account for about 80% of the panels expected to be installed in the United States this year, according to the American Clean Power Association industry group.

"This decision effectively freezes development in the U.S. solar industry," association CEO Heather Zichal said on a conference call with reporters. "Frankly, the Commerce Department's action to initiate this investigation is a disaster for our industry."

In a statement, a Commerce Department spokesperson said the department would "conduct an open and transparent investigation."

"This inquiry is just a first step - there has been no determination one way or the other on the merits, and no additional duties will be imposed at this time," the spokesperson said.

In a memo posted on a Commerce Department website earlier in the day, officials said Auxin had provided information indicating that solar companies operating in the four countries are subsidiaries of large Chinese producers and that products made there would be subject to U.S. countervailing and anti-dumping duties if made in China.

"Auxin properly alleged the elements necessary for a circumvention determination," the memo said.

The Commerce Department said it will issue a preliminary determination within 150 days.
In full: https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-paci ... 022-03-28/

BREAKING NEWS:
US to go for tariff-free solar panel imports from 4 Asian countries - report
Author: Veselina Petrova

June 6 (Renewables Now) - US President Joe Biden is expected to officially allow the tariff-free imports of solar panels from Thailand, Malaysia, Cambodia and Vietnam for a 24-month period, Reuters reports.

An unnamed source has told the news agency that an announcement by the Biden Administration is due to be made on Monday.

Hundreds of large-scale solar power projects in the US are on hold since the end of March when the Commerce Department launched an investigation into the imports of photovoltaic (PV) panels from the four Asian countries.

The probe was initiated after US solar product maker Auxin Solar filed a petition against Chinese manufacturers, accusing them of circumventing duties in the US by shipping panels assembled in Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam and insisting that they are slapped with cost-prohibitive tariffs of up to 250%.

According to the report, the proclamation will be made amid concerns about the impacts of the months-long investigation.

A study by the American Clean Power Association has shown that more than 24 GW of solar PV projects are at risk, either being threatened by cancellation or facing delays in the period 2022-2023, due to the probe. The industry organisation estimates that the four countries at the heart of the investigation account for 80% of the solar imports in the US.
https://renewablesnow.com/news/us-to-go ... rt-787101/
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Biden Authorises Duty-Free Imports of Solar Cells and Modules from Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam
AKP Phnom Penh, June 07, 2022 --

U.S. President Joe Biden has authorised duty-free imports of solar cells and modules from Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam for up to two years to combat an electricity crisis in the United States.

In an emergency declaration released Monday, the White House said Southeast Asia accounted for about three-quarters of imported modules in 2020.

But "the United States has been unable to import solar modules in sufficient quantities to ensure solar capacity additions necessary to achieve our climate and clean energy goals, ensure electricity grid resource adequacy, and help combat rising energy prices.

“This acute shortage of solar modules and module components has abruptly put at risk near-term solar capacity additions that could otherwise have the potential to help ensure the sufficiency of electricity generation to meet customer demand.

“Roughly half of the domestic deployment of solar modules that had been anticipated over the next year is currently in jeopardy as a result of insufficient supply. Across the country, solar projects are being postponed or cancelled.”

The White House said Washington was working with the private sector to expand domestic solar manufacturing capacity — including for modules and other inputs in the solar supply chain.

“But building that capacity will take time,” it said. “Immediate action is needed to ensure in the interim that the United States has access to a sufficient supply of solar modules to assist in meeting our electricity generation needs.”

To provide relief, the Commerce Secretary “may prescribe, the importation, free of the collection of duties and estimated duties … of certain solar cells and modules, exported from the Kingdom of Cambodia, Malaysia, the Kingdom of Thailand, and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,” the White House said.

The authorisation does not cover solar cells and modules subject to antidumping or countervailing duties as of Monday.

But it authorises the Commerce Secretary to “temporarily extend during the course of the emergency the time therein prescribed for the performance of any act related to such imports.”

The declaration said “multiple factors” were threatening America’s ability to provide sufficient electricity to meet customer demand.
https://www.akp.gov.kh/post/detail/255479

Vietnam advises caution:

Firms advised to stay cautious despite US’s tariffs exemption on solar panels
The Trade Remedies Authority has recommended businesses stay cautious after US President Joe Biden's announcement on June 6 on tariff exemption for solar panels imported from Vietnam, Cambodia, Malaysia and Thailand, urging them to continue to review their export of products subject to the US’s anti-circumvention investigation.
VNA Thursday, June 09, 2022 10:27 https://link.gov.vn/nwg3njZK

Hanoi (VNA) – The Trade Remedies Authority has recommended businesses stay cautious after US President Joe Biden's announcement on June 6 on tariff exemption for solar panels imported from Vietnam, Cambodia, Malaysia and Thailand, urging them to continue to review their export of products subject to the US’s anti-circumvention investigation.

The exporters should carefully study related regulations and procedures, and seriously and fully comply with the requirements made by US investigation agency as well as closely coordinate with the Vietnamese authority throughout the course of the case, it noted.

On June 6, US President Joe Biden also declared a state of emergency related to a shortage of domestic supply of solar cells and modules for solar power generation. He authorised the Secretary of Commerce to consider appropriate action allowing a 24-month tariff exemption for solar panels imported from Vietnam, Cambodia, Malaysia and Thailand. The move aimed to ensure the US has access to a sufficient supply of solar modules to meet electricity generation needs while domestic manufacturing scales up.

Earlier, in March, the US Department of Commerce (DOC) began an investigation to determine if solar cells and modules imported from the four Southeast Asian nations are circumventing existing antidumping and countervailing tariffs on those from China.

According to the Trade Remedies Authority of Vietnam, the case is still underway, with no official conclusion issued yet. Therefore, the US’s anti-dumping and anti-subsidy measures are not imposed on products imported from Vietnam at the moment.
If a decision on imposing these measures is made, the application will be possibly postponed to June 6, 2024 or until the state of emergency is lifted (whichever comes first)./.
VNA
https://en.vietnamplus.vn/firms-advised ... 230871.vnp

Commerce suggests antidumping tariffs be extended to solar cell and panel imports from Southeast Asia
By Kelly Pickerel | December 2, 2022

The Dept. of Commerce today released its preliminary decision, stating that certain Chinese solar cell and panel producers in four Southeast Asian countries are indeed working in those countries to avoid paying duties on Chinese-made solar goods. Commerce has suggested an extension of antidumping/countervailing duties (AD/CVD) to solar cell and panel imports from specific companies working in Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam.

The tariffs are against crystalline silicon cells produced in the four countries from wafers produced in China and final panels made with wafers produced in China that also use two of the following Chinese-made materials: silver paste, aluminum frames, glass, backsheets, ethylene vinyl acetate sheets and junction boxes. Wafers produced outside of China with polysilicon sourced from China are not considered to be wafers produced in China and are not included in this scope.

Today’s preliminary decision from the Dept. of Commerce cites specific companies actively circumventing previous AD/CVD orders and extends its affirmative determination of circumvention to all shipments from the four countries unless explicitly stated otherwise.
Details:
-Companies found to be circumventing the Chinese tariff orders by working in Malaysia: AMC Cincaria, Flextronic Shah Alam, Funing Precision Component, Samsung, Vina Solar Technology.
-Companies found to be circumventing the Chinese tariff orders by working in Thailand: Trina Solar, Canadian Solar, Celestica, Green Solar Thailand, Lightup Creation, Thai Master Frame, Three Arrows, Yuan Feng New Energy, Solar PPM, Sunshine Electrical Energy.
-Companies found to be circumventing the Chinese tariff orders by working in Vietnam: Vina Solar (LONGi), Global Energy, GCL, Green Wing Solar Technology, HT Solar, Irex Energy, S-Solar, Venergy, Sunergy, Red Sun Energy.
-Companies found to be circumventing the Chinese tariff orders by working in Cambodia: BYD.
-Companies explicitly stated within Commerce documents to NOT be circumventing the Chinese tariff orders by working in Southeast Asia and therefore EXEMPT from any additional tariffs: New East Solar (Cambodia), Hanwha Qcells (Malaysia), JinkoSolar (Malaysia) and Boviet Solar (Vietnam).

This investigation has hung over the U.S. solar industry for two years. A group of anonymous solar panel manufacturers first asked Commerce to take a look in 2021 at specific Chinese solar panel manufacturers working in Southeast Asia as a way to circumvent AD/CVD requirements. Commerce rejected that petition because of the anonymous nature of the petitioners. California-based solar panel assembler Auxin Solar then put its name on a new petition in 2022 and became the main voice behind the request. Auxin officials claim that Chinese solar producers working in Southeast Asia are unfairly pricing their products to undercut American manufacturers.

Once the investigation began, module supply from Southeast Asia — a region that supplied 80% of U.S. demand in previous years — became limited. Many manufacturers were waiting to see DOC’s decision before shipping panels (that may have retroactive duties) to the United States. This uncertainty — along with global supply chain issues — led President Joe Biden to announce a two-year pause on any additional tariffs in June 2022. The Biden Administration postponed any tariff initiation to “ensure the U.S. has access to a sufficient supply of solar modules to meet electricity generation needs while domestic manufacturing scales up.” Today’s tariff decision (with its May 2023 final determination deadline) will not go into effect until after June 6, 2024 due to Biden’s executive action.

S&P Global analyzed U.S. solar panel imports since Biden’s two-year tariff waiver and found a dramatic spike in imported solar panels in Q3 2022. The number of shipping containers carrying solar panels to U.S. ports jumped 59% from Q2.

The group found that 82% of solar panels imported in Q3 2022 came from the four Southeast Asian countries at the center of this case. Vietnam accounted for 41.6%, Malaysia was 20.1%, Thailand was 14.3% and Cambodia was 5.7%. Chinese imports accounted for only 0.1% of the U.S. supply during the same period. U.S. module buyers are fully taking advantage of Biden’s pause on tariffs.

While there have been more announcements for new U.S. solar cell and panel manufacturing outfits since the inclusion of tax credits in the Inflation Reduction Act this past summer, the country’s demand far outpaces supply, and solar panels will must continue to be imported. These new tariffs will touch all markets — residential through utility-scale — beginning in 2024 and beyond.
https://www.solarpowerworldonline.com/2 ... east-asia/

December 6, 2022
U.S. Department of Commerce Imposes Sweeping Country-Wide Import Duties on Certain Solar Cells and Models

On December 2, 2022, the International Trade Administration (“ITA”) of the U.S. Department of Commerce (“Commerce”) preliminarily issued a “country-wide” circumvention determination in its circumvention inquiry (“Inquiry”) regarding the imposition of anti-dumping and countervailing import duties on certain solar cells and modules from Vietnam, Cambodia, Malaysia, and Thailand.

As previously reported, the Inquiry, which was published by the ITA on April 1, 2022, was initiated at the request of U.S.-based solar manufacturer Auxin Solar, Inc. (Auxin) and concerns the assertion that crystalline silicon (c-Si) photvoltaic cells and modules being “completed in Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand, or Vietnam using parts and components manufactured in China” are circumventing “U.S. antidumping duty (AD) and countervailing duty (CVD) orders.”

Having now completed its initial investigation, “Commerce preliminarily found that four of the eight companies being investigated are attempting to bypass U.S. duties by doing minor processing” in one of the four countries before the products are imported to the United States. The four companies found to be circumventing U.S. import duties are BYD Hong Kong (Cambodia), Canadian Solar (Thailand), Trina (Thailand), and Vina Solar (Vietnam). Additional companies failed to respond to Commerce’s preliminary request for information and have been “found to be circumventing” by default. This has led Commerce to conclude that “circumvention was occurring through each of the four Southeast Asian countries.”

Accordingly, Commerce made “a ‘country-wide’ circumvention finding.” This labels the entire country “as one through which solar cells and modules are being circumvented” from China. While not a ban, all affected solar cells and modules made on or after April 1, 2022, originating from these four countries will presumably have AD/CVD duties imposed. The AD/CVD rate applied is company specific and governed by the existing AD/CVD orders applied to China. Where no company-specific rate exists under the AD/CVD orders, the required cash deposit rate will be the China-wide rate for AD duties (238.95%) and the All-Others rate for CVD duties (15.28%).

Companies may avoid these duties by certifying that they are not circumventing the anti-dumping or countervailing duty orders. Nearly two dozen companies identified by Commerce, however, are temporarily prohibited from seeking this certification. In contrast, the four companies that were already preliminarily found to have not been circumventing U.S. duties—New East Solar (Cambodia), Hanwha (Malaysia), Jinko (Malaysia), and Boviet (Vietnam)—need to take no further action as long as their supply chain and processing remains the same.
Full article: https://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/u-s-d ... s-4208305/

Solarspace opens 1.2 GW solar module factory in Cambodia
March 10, 2023 Emiliano Bellini
L-Q New Energy Co., Ltd, a unit of Chinese solar cell and module manufacturer Solarspace, has started manufacturing activities at its new factory in Cambodia.

“We expect to reach full production capacity at the end of March,” a spokesperson from the company told pv magazine. “The facility will produce PERC cells and panels.”
The factory is located in the UBE Snoul Special Economic Zone in Trapaing Sre village, in the Snuol district.

The manufacturing site is Solarspace's first factory outside China, where it operates seven facilities.
https://www.pv-magazine.com/2023/03/10/ ... -cambodia/

House votes to restore solar panel tariffs, Biden vows to veto bill if it passes Senate
Published Fri, Apr 28 20231:54 PM EDT
Emma Newburger
The U.S. House of Representatives on Friday voted to repeal President Joe Biden’s suspension of tariffs on solar panels from Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam, nations that collectively represent a majority of country’s supply of panels.

The decision comes after the White House last year waived tariffs on solar panel imports from the Southeast Asian nations for two years and invoked the Defense Production Act to bolster domestic solar panel manufacturing.

The tariff moratorium was imposed to keep solar panels coming into the country as the U.S. boosts capacity. Solar energy is a key step toward reaching the White House’s climate goals.

The president had issued the moratorium amid a Commerce Department probe into whether companies were circumventing tariffs on Chinese shipments of solar products to the U.S. Commerce was looking at a complaint alleging that eight solar companies manufacture solar cells and components in China, then send those cells and modules to Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam for “minor processing” before exporting them to the U.S.
The department preliminarily found that four of the eight companies were attempting to bypass U.S. duties by doing minor processing in one of the Southeast Asian nations.

Supporters of the House resolution argue that the country is too dependent on other nations like China for clean energy and should enforce trade laws that will support country’s domestic solar supply chains.

The House passed the resolution in a 221-202 vote, with 12 Democrats joining most Republicans to vote in favor. The legislation now faces review by the Senate. The president has pledged to veto congressional efforts to repeal the solar tariff waiver. A veto could only be overturned with a two-thirds Senate majority.
https://www.cnbc.com/2023/04/28/house-v ... -veto.html