[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 243 (Wednesday, December 20, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 60370-60373]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-27405]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[A-583-853]


Certain Crystalline Silicon Photovoltaic Products From Taiwan: 
Preliminary Results of Antidumping Duty Administrative Review and 
Partial Rescission of Antidumping Duty Administrative Review; 2016-2017

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

SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce (the Department) is conducting an 
administrative review of the antidumping duty (AD) order on certain 
crystalline silicon photovoltaic products (solar products) from Taiwan. 
The period of review (POR) is February 1, 2016, through January 31, 
2017. This administrative review covers 11 exporters of the subject 
merchandise, including one mandatory respondent, Motech Industries, 
Inc. (Motech). The Department preliminarily determines that Motech made 
sales of subject merchandise at less than normal value during the POR. 
Additionally, we are rescinding this administrative review with respect 
to 23 companies that timely withdrew their requests for administrative 
review. Interested parties are invited to comment on these preliminary 
results.

DATES: Applicable December 20, 2017.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ariela Garvett or Thomas Martin, AD/
CVD Operations, Office IV, Enforcement and Compliance, International 
Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution 
Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-3609 or (202) 
482-3936, respectively.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background

    On February 8, 2017, the Department notified interested parties of 
the opportunity to request an administrative review of orders, 
findings, or suspended investigations with anniversaries in February 
2017, including the antidumping duty order on solar products from 
Taiwan.\1\ On February 28, 2017, SolarWorld Americas Inc. (the 
petitioner), as well as various exporters and exporters, requested that 
the Department conduct an administrative review of certain exporters 
covering the POR. On April 10, 2017, the Department published a notice 
initiating an AD administrative review of solar products from Taiwan 
covering 34 companies for the POR.\2\
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    \1\ See Antidumping or Countervailing Duty Order, Finding, or 
Suspended Investigation; Opportunity To Request Administrative 
Review, 82 FR 9709 (February 8, 2017).
    \2\ See Initiation of Antidumping and Countervailing Duty 
Administrative Reviews, 82 FR 17188, 17189 (April 10, 2017) 
(Initiation Notice).
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    In the Initiation Notice, the Department stated that if it limited 
the number of respondents for individual examination, it intended to 
select respondents based on volume data contained in responses to its 
quantity and value (Q&V) questionnaire.\3\ On April 10, 2017, the 
Department issued Q&V questionnaires to all 11 companies that appeared 
in the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) data for import and 
merchandise value.\4\ We received Q&V questionnaire responses from 11 
companies \5\ named in the Initiation

[[Page 60371]]

Notice. The remaining 23 companies withdrew their requests for 
administrative review, pursuant to 19 CFR 351.213(d)(1).
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    \3\ Id. at 17189.
    \4\ The Department explained in the Initiation Notice that the 
units used to measure the imported quantities of solar cells and 
solar modules in the CBP data are in ``piece'' units, and it would 
not be meaningful to sum the number of imported solar cells and the 
number of imported solar modules in attempting to determine the 
largest Taiwan exporters of subject merchandise by volume. Id. 
Therefore, the Department stated that it would limit the number of 
Q&V questionnaires issued based on the import values in CBP data. 
Id.
    \5\ The 11 companies that submitted a Q&V questionnaire response 
include: AU Optronics Corporation, EEPV Corp., Gintech Energy 
Corporation, Inventec Solar Energy Corporation, Kyocera Mexicana 
S.A. de C.V., Motech Industries, Inc., Neo Solar Power Corporation, 
Sino-American Silicon Products Inc., Solartech Energy Corp. group, 
TSEC Corporation, and Vina Solar Technology Co., Ltd.
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    On May 24, 2017, the Department selected Motech as a mandatory 
respondent.\6\ From May 25, 2017, through November 16, 2017, the 
Department issued questionnaires to, and received timely responses 
from, Motech.\7\ The petitioner commented on these responses between 
July 6, July 28, October 3, and October 24, 2017.
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    \6\ See memorandum from Thomas Martin, Senior International 
Trade Compliance Analyst, Office IV, AD/CVD Operations, Enforcement 
and Compliance to Abdelali Elouaradia, Director, Office IV, AD/CVD 
Operations, Enforcement and Compliance regarding ``2016-2017 
Antidumping Duty Administrative Review of Certain Crystalline 
Silicon Photovoltaic Products from Taiwan: Respondent Selection,'' 
dated May 24, 2017 (Respondent Selection Memorandum) at 4-5.
    \7\ See Letters from Motech to the Department dated June 22, 
July 13, September 20, October 3, October 13, November 6, November 
13, and November 16, 2017.
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Partial Rescission of Antidumping Duty Administrative Review

    Pursuant to 19 CFR 351.213(d)(1), the Department will rescind an 
administrative review, in whole or in part, if a party that requested 
the review withdraws its request within 90 days of the date of 
publication of the notice of initiation of the requested review. 
Twenty-three companies \8\ withdrew their respective requests for an 
administrative review within 90 days of the date of publication of 
Initiation Notice. Accordingly, the Department is rescinding this 
review with respect to these 23 companies.
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    \8\ Baoding Jiasheng Photovoltaic Technology Co Ltd., Baoding 
Tianwei Yingli New Energy Resources Co., Ltd., Beijing Tianneng 
Yingli New Energy Resources Co Ltd., Boviet Solar Technology Co., 
Ltd., Canadian Solar Inc., Canadian Solar International, Ltd., 
Canadian Solar Manufacturing (Changshu), Inc., Canadian Solar 
Manufacturing (Luoyang), Inc., Canadian Solar Solution Inc., E-TON 
Solar Tech. Co., Ltd., Hainan Yingli New Energy Resources Co., Ltd., 
Hengshui Yingli New Energy Resources Co., Ltd., Inventec Energy 
Corporation., Lixian Yingli New Energy Resources Co., Ltd., Shenzhen 
Yingli New Energy Resources Co., Ltd., Sunengine Corporation Ltd., 
Sunrise Global Solar Energy., Tianjin Yingli New Energy Resources 
Co., Ltd., Trina Solar (Schweiz) AG., Trina Solar (Singapore) 
Science and Technology Pte Ltd., Win Win Precision Technology Co., 
Ltd., Yingli Energy (China) Co., Ltd., and Yingli Green Energy 
International Trading Company Limited.
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Scope of the Order

    The merchandise covered by this order is crystalline silicon 
photovoltaic cells, and modules, laminates and/or panels consisting of 
crystalline silicon photovoltaic cells, whether or not partially or 
fully assembled into other products, including building integrated 
materials.\9\ Merchandise covered by this order is currently classified 
in the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS) under 
subheadings 8501.61.0000, 8507.20.8030, 8507.20.8040, 8507.20.8060, 
8507.20.8090, 8541.40.6020, 8541.40.6030 and 8501.31.8000. These HTSUS 
subheadings are provided for convenience and customs purposes; the 
written description of the scope is dispositive.
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    \9\ For a complete description of the scope of the products 
under review, see Memorandum from James Maeder, Senior Director, 
performing the duties of Deputy Assistant Secretary for Antidumping 
and Countervailing Duty Operations, to Gary Taverman, Deputy 
Assistant Secretary for Antidumping and Countervailing Duty 
Operations, Performing the non-exclusive functions and duties of the 
Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance, ``Decision 
Memorandum for Preliminary Results of the 2016-2017 Antidumping Duty 
Administrative Review of Certain Crystalline Silicon Photovoltaic 
Products from Taiwan,'' dated concurrently with, and hereby adopted 
by this notice (Preliminary Decision Memorandum). 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 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 on the internet at http://enforcement.trade.gov/frn/. The 
signed and electronic versions of the Preliminary Decision 
Memorandum are identical in content.
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Methodology

    The Department is conducting this review in accordance with section 
751(a) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (the Act). Export price 
and constructed export price are calculated in accordance with section 
772 of the Act. Normal value is calculated in accordance with section 
773 of the Act.
    For a full description of the methodology underlying our 
conclusions, see the Preliminary Decision Memorandum.\10\ A list of 
topics included in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum is included as 
an Appendix to this notice.
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    \10\ See Preliminary Decision Memorandum.
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Preliminary Results of Review

    As a result of this review, we preliminarily determine the 
following weighted-average dumping margins for the period February 1, 
2016 through January 31, 2017:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                       Weighted-average
                Manufacturer/exporter                  margin  (percent)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Motech Industries, Inc..............................                1.07
AU Optronics Corporation............................                1.07
EEPV Corp...........................................                1.07
Gintech Energy Corporation..........................                1.07
Inventec Solar Energy Corporation...................                1.07
Kyocera Mexicana S.A. de C.V........................                1.07
Neo Solar Power Corporation.........................                1.07
Sino-American Silicon Products Inc. and Solartech                   1.07
 Energy Corp........................................
TSEC Corporation....................................                1.07
Vina Solar Technology Co., Ltd......................                1.07
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Rate for Companies Not Individually Examined

    The statute and the Department's regulations do not address the 
establishment of a rate to be applied to respondents not selected for 
individual examination when the Department limits its examination of 
companies subject to the administrative review pursuant to section 
777A(c)(2)(B) of the Act. Generally, the Department looks to section 
735(c)(5) of the Act, which provides instructions for calculating the 
all-others rate in an investigation, for guidance when calculating the 
rate for respondents not individually examined in an administrative 
review. Section 735(c)(5)(A) of the Act articulates a

[[Page 60372]]

preference for not calculating an all-others rate using rates which are 
zero, de minimis or based entirely on facts available (FA).\11\ 
Accordingly, the Department's usual practice has been to determine the 
dumping margin for companies not individually examined by averaging the 
weighted-average dumping margins for the individually examined 
respondents, excluding rates that are zero, de minimis, or based 
entirely on facts available.\12\ Consistent with this practice, we 
preliminarily calculated a weighted-average dumping margin for Motech 
that is above de minimis and not based entirely on FA; therefore, the 
Department preliminarily assigns to the non-selected companies the 
weighted-average margin calculated for Motech as the non-selected 
respondent rate for this review.
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    \11\ See Ball Bearings and Parts Thereof from France, Germany, 
Italy, Japan, and the United Kingdom: Final Results of Antidumping 
Duty Administrative Reviews and Rescission of Reviews in Part, 73 FR 
52823, 52824 (September 11, 2008), and accompanying Issues and 
Decision Memorandum at Comment 16.
    \12\ Id.
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Assessment Rates

    As noted above, we are rescinding the review with respect to 23 
companies that withdrew their requests for an administrative review 
within 90 days of the date of publication of the Initiation Notice. As 
such, the Department intends to issue appropriate assessment 
instructions to CBP 15 days after the date of publication of this 
notice for these 23 companies. Antidumping duties shall be assessed at 
rates equal to the cash deposit of estimated antidumping duties 
required at the time of entry, or withdrawal from warehouse, for 
consumption in accordance with 19 CFR 351.212(c)(1)(i).
    Upon completion of the administrative review, the Department shall 
determine, and CBP shall assess, antidumping duties on all appropriate 
entries covered by this review. The Department intends to issue 
assessment instructions to CBP 15 days after the date of publication of 
the final results of this review.
    For any individually examined respondents whose weighted-average 
dumping margin is above de minimis (i.e., 0.50 percent), we will 
calculate importer-specific ad valorem duty assessment rates based on 
the ratio of the total amount of dumping calculated for the importer's 
examined sales to the total entered value of those same sales in 
accordance with 19 CFR 351.212(b)(1).\13\ For entries of subject 
merchandise during the POR produced by each respondent for which it did 
not know its merchandise was destined for the United States, we will 
instruct CBP to liquidate un-reviewed entries at the all-others rate if 
there is no rate for the intermediate company involved in the 
transaction.\14\ We will instruct CBP to assess antidumping duties on 
all appropriate entries covered by this review when the importer-
specific assessment rate calculated in the final results of this review 
is above de minimis. Where either the respondent's weighted-average 
dumping margin is zero or de minimis, or an importer-specific 
assessment rate is zero or de minimis, we will instruct CBP to 
liquidate the appropriate entries without regard to antidumping duties.
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    \13\ In these preliminary results, the Department applied the 
assessment rate calculation methodology adopted in Antidumping 
Proceedings: Calculation of the Weighted-Average Dumping Margin and 
Assessment Rate in Certain Antidumping Proceedings: Final 
Modification, 77 FR 8101 (February 14, 2012).
    \14\ See Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Proceedings: 
Assessment of Antidumping Duties, 68 FR 23954 (May 6, 2003).
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    The final results of this review shall be the basis for the 
assessment of antidumping duties on entries of merchandise covered by 
the final results of this review and for future deposits of estimated 
duties, where applicable.

Cash Deposit Requirements

    The following deposit requirements will be effective upon 
publication of the notice of final results of administrative review for 
all shipments of solar products from Taiwan entered, or withdrawn from 
warehouse, for consumption on or after the date of publication of the 
final results of this administrative review, as provided for by section 
751(a)(2)(C) of the Act: (1) The cash deposit rate for the companies 
under review will be the rate established in the final results of this 
review (except, if the rate is zero or de minimis, no cash deposit will 
be required); (2) for merchandise exported by manufacturers or 
exporters not covered in this review but covered in a prior segment of 
the proceeding, the cash deposit rate will continue to be the company-
specific rate published for the most recently completed segment of this 
proceeding in which the manufacturer or exporter participated; (3) if 
the exporter is not a firm covered in this review, a prior review, or 
the less-than-fair-value investigation, but the manufacturer is, the 
cash deposit rate will be the rate established for the most recently 
completed segment of the proceeding for the manufacturer of the 
merchandise; and (4) the cash deposit rate for all other manufacturers 
or exporters will continue to be 19.50 percent ad valorem, the all-
others rate established in the less-than-fair-value investigation.\15\ 
These cash deposit requirements, when imposed, shall remain in effect 
until further notice.
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    \15\ See Certain Crystalline Silicon Photovoltaic Products: 
Final Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value, 79 FR 76966 
(December 23, 2014).
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Disclosure and Public Comment

    The Department intends to disclose the calculations used in our 
analysis to interested parties in this review within five days of the 
date of publication of this notice in accordance with 19 CFR 
351.224(b). Interested parties are invited to comment on the 
preliminary results of this review. Pursuant to 19 CFR 
351.309(c)(1)(ii), interested parties may submit case briefs no later 
than 30 days after the date of publication of this notice. Rebuttal 
briefs, limited to issues raised in the case briefs, may be filed no 
later than five days after the time limit for filing case briefs.\16\ 
Parties who submit case briefs or rebuttal briefs in this proceeding 
are requested to submit with each brief: (1) A statement of the issue, 
(2) a brief summary of the argument, and (3) a table of 
authorities.\17\ Executive summaries should be limited to five pages 
total, including footnotes.\18\ Case and rebuttal briefs should be 
filed using ACCESS.\19\
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    \16\ See 19 CFR 351.309(d)(1).
    \17\ See 19 CFR 351.309(c)(2) and (d)(2).
    \18\ Id.
    \19\ See 19 CFR 351.303.
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    Pursuant to 19 CFR 351.310(c), any interested party may request a 
hearing within 30 days of the publication of this notice in the Federal 
Register. If a hearing is requested, the Department will notify 
interested parties of the hearing schedule. Interested parties who wish 
to request a hearing, or to participate if one is requested, must 
submit a written request to the Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and 
Compliance, filed electronically via ACCESS within 30 days after the 
date of publication of this notice. Requests should contain: (1) The 
party's name, address, and telephone number; (2) the number of 
participants; and (3) a list of the issues to be discussed. Issues 
raised in the hearing will be limited to those raised in the respective 
case and rebuttal briefs.
    We intend to issue the final results of this administrative review, 
including the results of our analysis of issues raised by the parties 
in the written comments, within 120 days of publication of these 
preliminary results in the Federal Register, unless otherwise 
extended.\20\
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    \20\ See section 751(a)(3)(A) of the Act.

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[[Page 60373]]

Notification to Importers

    This notice also serves as a preliminary reminder to importers of 
their responsibility under 19 CFR 351.402(f) to file a certificate 
regarding the reimbursement of antidumping duties prior to liquidation 
of the relevant entries during this review period. Failure to comply 
with this requirement could result in the Department's presumption that 
reimbursement of antidumping duties occurred and the subsequent 
assessment of double antidumping duties.
    These preliminary results of administrative review are issued and 
published in accordance with sections 751(a)(1) and 777(i)(1) of the 
Act and 19 CFR 351.213(h)(1).

    Dated: December 13, 2017.
Gary Taverman,
Deputy Assistance Secretary for Antidumping and Countervailing Duty 
Operations, performing the non-exclusive functions and duties of the 
Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance.

Appendix

List of Topics Discussed in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum

1. Summary
2. Background
3. Scope of the Order
4. Selection of Respondents
5. Affiliation and Collapsing of Affiliates
6. Unexamined Respondents
7. Discussion of Methodology
8. Product Comparisons
9. Date of Sale
10. Export Price
11. Normal Value
12. Revisions to SAS-Solartech's Reported Home Market Sales
13. Cost of Production Analysis
14. Calculation of NV Based on Comparison-Market Prices
15. Currency Conversions
16. Conclusion

[FR Doc. 2017-27405 Filed 12-19-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P