Commerce Finalizes Ruling That Unfinished Solar Cells From China Subject to AD/CV Duties
The Commerce Department on June 15 finalized its determination that solar modules made from unfinished solar cells imported from China into Vietnam for finishing are subject to antidumping and countervailing duties on crystalline silicon photovoltaic cells, whether or not assembled into modules, from China (A-570-979/C-570-980).
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The agency’s final scope ruling makes no changes to the positions it adopted in a preliminary scope ruling issued in March (see 2104070025), continuing to find that the country where the p/n junction is formed on the cells determines country of origin, which in the case of these cells is China.
ET Solar, the importer of the cells and requestor of the scope ruling, argued that Commerce’s preliminary ruling was incorrect because the unfinished product imported from China into Vietnam are “silicon wafers” that are not mentioned in the scope of AD/CV duties. Commerce disagreed, finding “that the process of imbuing silicon wafers with a p/n junction results in the creation of solar cells -- albeit unfished solar cells -- capable of converting sunlight into electricity via the photovoltaic effect.”
ET Solar also reiterated arguments that the unfinished solar cells are incapable of generating electricity before cleaning, etching, coating and the addition of materials (including, metallization and conductor patterns) to collect and forward the electricity, all of which occurs in Vietnam. Commerce reiterated that, while the cells are unfinished when exported from China, the final processing “does not change the important qualities or use of the essential components contained in the merchandise at issue.”
Finally, ET Solar argued that the processes in Vietnam were capital intensive and complex, and effected a change in essential character. But Commerce ruled that the processes in Vietnam “only transform an unfinished solar cell into a finished solar cell by enabling the cell to channel the energy it creates. Ultimately, the steps performed in Vietnam do not encompass the formation of the essential component that defines both finished and unfinished solar cells.”
Based on the totality of the evidence and the comments made by both parties on the plain language of the orders and the five criteria of the substantial transformation analysis, Commerce continues to find that the unfinished Chinese solar cells used to produce the imported modules described by ET Solar in its scope inquiry are not substantially transformed as a result of the production processes undertaken in Vietnam,” the agency said. “Accordingly, we continue to find that the modules at issue, as described in ET Solar’s scope request, are within the scope of the Orders.”