Commerce Reverses Use of Descartes Data in Calculating Ocean Freight in CVD Case
The Commerce Department reversed its use of Descartes ocean freight data in various subsidy calculations on remand in a case on the 2021 countervailing duty review of crystalline silicon photovoltaic products from China. Instead of using an average of Descartes and Xeneta data, the agency said it decided to solely use the Xeneta in response to concerns raised by the Court of International Trade (Trina Solar (Changzhou) Science & Technology Co. v. U.S., CIT # 23-00219).
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The result, if sustained, would be an overall lowered CVD rate for exporter Trina Solar (Changzhou) Science & Technology Co. of 9.02% -- down from the previous 13.21% rate. This dip reflects lowered subsidy rates for the provision of solar grade polysilicon, which fell from 0.72% to 0.66%; solar glass, which fell from 8.33% to 4.23%; and wafers, which fell from 0.89% to 0.86%.
In a December decision, the trade court granted the government's voluntary remand request so that Commerce could reconsider the use of the Descartes data in light of a separate CIT decision addressing the use of the data in the same context. The court noted that Commerce didn't consider the potential impact that a small sample size from the Descartes data could have when affecting the comparability of the Descartes and Xeneta datasets (see 2312130022).
As a result, the agency decided to no longer use the Descartes data, while also finding that the Xeneta data "do not contain surcharges for congestion, fuel, and peak season surcharges." Commerce said this was based on "Xeneta's own statements indicating it did not make these surcharges available until after the POR."
To account for these missing surcharges, Commerce said it took information "separately itemized in the Descartes data for a 'USA port congestion surcharge' and an 'Emergency fuel surcharge.'" However, because the Descartes data didn't itemize a separate "peak season" surcharge, Commerce said it didn't adjust the Xeneta data "for that missing amount." Additionally, no adjustments were made for an "IMO 2020 surcharge" and a "Panama canal surcharge," because there was no evidence that these surcharges were missing from the Xeneta data. The same is true of an "emergnecy bunker surcharge."
Trina said in comments on the remand that while it agreed with Commerce's decision to stop relying on the Descartes data, it "does not concede that Commerce correctly concluded that the Xeneta data does not include freight surcharges."