[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 17 (Thursday, January 25, 2018)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 3541-3551]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-01592]
Presidential Documents
Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 17 / Thursday, January 25, 2018 /
Presidential Documents
[[Page 3541]]
Proclamation 9693 of January 23, 2018
To Facilitate Positive Adjustment to Competition
From Imports of Certain Crystalline Silicon
Photovoltaic Cells (Whether or Not Partially or Fully
Assembled Into Other Products) and for Other Purposes
By the President of the United States of America
A Proclamation
1. On November 13, 2017, the United States
International Trade Commission (ITC) transmitted to the
President a report (the ``ITC Report'') on its
investigation under section 202 of the Trade Act of
1974, as amended (the ``Trade Act'') (19 U.S.C. 2252),
with respect to imports of certain crystalline silicon
photovoltaic (CSPV) cells, whether or not partially or
fully assembled into other products (including, but not
limited to, modules, laminates, panels, and building-
integrated materials) (``CSPV products''). These
products exclude certain products described in the ITC
Notice of Institution, 82 FR 25331 (June 1, 2017), and
listed in subdivision (c)(ii) of Note 18 in Annex I to
this proclamation.
2. The ITC reached an affirmative determination under
section 202(b) of the Trade Act (19 U.S.C. 2252(b))
that CSPV products are being imported into the United
States in such increased quantities as to be a
substantial cause of serious injury, or threat of
serious injury, to the domestic industry producing a
like or directly competitive article.
3. Pursuant to section 311(a) of the North American
Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act (the ``NAFTA
Implementation Act'') (19 U.S.C. 3371(a)), the ITC made
findings as to whether imports from Mexico and Canada,
considered individually, account for a substantial
share of total imports and contribute importantly to
the serious injury, or threat thereof, caused by
imports. The ITC made affirmative findings of
contribution to injury with respect to imports of CSPV
products from Mexico but made negative findings with
respect to imports of CSPV products from Canada.
4. On November 27, 2017, the United States Trade
Representative (USTR) requested additional information
from the ITC under section 203(a)(5) of the Trade Act
(19 U.S.C. 2253(a)(5)). On December 27, 2017, the ITC
provided a response that identified unforeseen
developments that led to the importation of CSPV
products into the United States in such increased
quantities as to be a substantial cause of serious
injury (the ``supplemental report'').
5. The ITC commissioners transmitted to the President
their individual recommendations with respect to the
actions that each of them considered would address the
serious injury, or threat of serious injury, to the
domestic industry and be most effective in facilitating
the efforts of the industry to make a positive
adjustment to import competition. The ITC did not
recommend an action within the meaning of section
202(e) of the Trade Act (19 U.S.C. 2252(e)).
6. Pursuant to section 203 of the Trade Act (19 U.S.C.
2253), and after taking into account the considerations
specified in section 203(a)(2) of the Trade Act (19
U.S.C. 2253(a)(2)), the ITC Report, and the
supplemental report, I have determined to implement
action of a type described in section 203(a)(3) of the
Trade Act (19 U.S.C. 2252(a)(3)) (a ``safeguard
measure''), with regard to the following CSPV products:
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(a) solar cells, whether or not assembled into
modules or made up into panels provided for in
subheading 8541.40.60 in Annex I to this proclamation;
(b) parts or subassemblies of solar cells provided
for in subheadings 8501.31.80, 8501.61.00, and
8507.20.80 in Annex I to this proclamation;
(c) inverters or batteries with CSPV cells attached
provided for in subheadings 8501.61.00 and 8507.20.80
in Annex I to this proclamation; and
(d) DC generators with CSPV cells attached provided
for in subheading 8501.31.80 in Annex I to this
proclamation.
7. Pursuant to section 312(a) of the NAFTA
Implementation Act (19 U.S.C. 3372(a)), I have
determined after considering the ITC Report that
imports of CSPV products from each of Mexico and
Canada, considered individually, account for a
substantial share of total imports and contribute
importantly to the serious injury or threat of serious
injury found by the ITC.
8. Pursuant to section 203 of the Trade Act, the action
I have determined to take shall be a safeguard measure
in the form of:
(a) a tariff-rate quota on imports of solar cells
not partially or fully assembled into other products as
described in paragraph 6 of this proclamation, imposed
for a period of 4 years, with unchanging within-quota
quantities and annual reductions in the rates of duty
applicable to goods entered in excess of those
quantities in the second, third, and fourth years, as
provided in Annex I to this proclamation; and
(b) an increase in duties on imports of modules,
imposed for a period of 4 years, with annual reductions
in the rates of duty in the second, third, and fourth
years, as provided in Annex I to this proclamation.
I have determined to exclude from this action the
products listed in subdivision (c)(ii) and (c)(iii) of
Note 18 in Annex I to this proclamation.
9. This safeguard measure shall apply to imports from
all countries, except as provided in paragraph 10 of
this proclamation.
10. This safeguard measure shall not apply to imports
of any product described in paragraph 6 of this
proclamation of a developing country that is a Member
of the World Trade Organization (WTO), as listed in
subdivision (b) of Note 18 in Annex I to this
proclamation, as long as such a country's share of
total imports of the product, based on imports during a
recent representative period, does not exceed 3
percent, provided that imports that are the product of
all such countries with less than 3 percent import
share collectively account for not more than 9 percent
of total imports of the product. If I determine that a
surge in imports of a product described in paragraph 6
of this proclamation of a developing country that is a
WTO Member results in imports of that product from that
developing country exceeding either of the thresholds
described in this paragraph, the safeguard measure
shall be modified to apply to such product from such
country.
11. The in-quota quantity in each year under the
tariff-rate quota described in paragraph 8 of this
proclamation shall be allocated among all countries
except those countries the products of which are
excluded from such tariff-rate quota pursuant to
paragraph 10 of this proclamation.
12. Pursuant to section 203(a)(1)(A) of the Trade Act
(19 U.S.C. 2253(a)(1)(A)), I have determined that this
safeguard measure will facilitate efforts by the
domestic industry to make a positive adjustment to
import competition and provide greater economic and
social benefits than costs. If I determine that further
action is appropriate and feasible to facilitate
efforts by the domestic industry to make a positive
adjustment to import competition and to provide greater
economic and social benefits than costs, or if I
determine that the conditions under section 204(b)(1)
of the Trade Act (19 U.S.C. 2254(b)(1)) are met, I
shall reduce, modify, or terminate the action
established in this proclamation accordingly. In
addition, if I determine within 30 days of the date of
this proclamation, as a result of consultations between
the United States and other WTO Members pursuant to
Article
[[Page 3543]]
12.3 of the WTO Agreement on Safeguards, that it is
necessary to reduce, modify, or terminate the safeguard
measure, I shall proclaim the corresponding reduction,
modification, or termination of the safeguard measure
within 40 days.
13. Section 502 of the Trade Act (19 U.S.C. 2462)
authorizes the President to designate countries as
beneficiary developing countries for purposes of the
Generalized System of Preferences (GSP).
14. Proclamation 9687 of December 22, 2017, ended the
suspension of Argentina's designation as a GSP
beneficiary developing country. That proclamation made
corresponding modifications to the Harmonized Tariff
Schedule of the United States (HTS). Those
modifications included technical errors, and I have
determined that modifications to the HTS are necessary
to correct them.
15. Section 604 of the Trade Act (19 U.S.C. 2483),
authorizes the President to embody in the HTS the
substance of the relevant provisions of that Act, and
of other acts affecting import treatment, and actions
thereunder, including the removal, modification,
continuance, or imposition of any rate of duty or other
import restriction.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, DONALD J. TRUMP, President of the
United States of America, acting under the authority
vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the
United States, including but not limited to sections
203, 502, and 604 of the Trade Act, and section 301 of
title 3, United States Code, do proclaim that:
(1) In order to establish increases in duty and a tariff-rate quota on
imports of the CSPV products described in paragraph 6 of this proclamation
(other than excluded products), subchapter III of chapter 99 of the HTS is
modified as provided in Annex I to this proclamation. Any merchandise
subject to the safeguard measure that is admitted into U.S. foreign trade
zones on or after 12:01 a.m. eastern standard time on February 7, 2018,
must be admitted as ``privileged foreign status'' as defined in 19 CFR
146.41, and will be subject upon entry for consumption to any quantitative
restrictions or tariffs related to the classification under the applicable
HTS subheading.
(2) Except as provided in clause (3) below, imports of CSPV products of WTO
Member developing countries, as listed in subdivision (b) of Note 18 in
Annex I to this proclamation, shall be excluded from the safeguard measure
established in this proclamation. Imports of solar cells of those countries
that are not partially or fully assembled into other products shall not be
counted toward the tariff-rate quota limits that trigger the over-quota
rates of duties.
(3) If, after the safeguard measure established in this proclamation takes
effect, the USTR determines that:
(a) the share of total imports of the product of a
country listed in subdivision (b) of Note 18 in Annex I
to this proclamation exceeds 3 percent,
(b) imports of the product from all listed
countries with less than 3 percent import share
collectively account for more than 9 percent of total
imports of the product, or
(c) a country listed in subdivision (b) of Note 18
in Annex I to this proclamation is no longer a
developing country for purposes of this proclamation;
the USTR is authorized, upon publication of a
notice in the Federal Register, to revise subdivision
(b) of Note 18 in Annex I to this proclamation to
remove the relevant country from the list or suspend
operation of that subdivision, as appropriate.
(4) Within 30 days after the date of this proclamation, the USTR shall
publish in the Federal Register procedures for requests for exclusion of a
particular product from the safeguard measure established in this
proclamation. If the USTR determines, after consultation with the
Secretaries
[[Page 3544]]
of Commerce and Energy, that a particular product should be excluded, the
USTR is authorized, upon publishing a notice of such determination in the
Federal Register, to modify the HTS provisions created by Annex I to this
proclamation to exclude such particular product from the safeguard measure
described in paragraph 8 of this proclamation.
(5) In order to make technical corrections necessary to reflect the end of
the suspension of Argentina's designation as a GSP beneficiary developing
country, the HTS is modified as set forth in Annex II to this proclamation.
(6) Any provision of previous proclamations and Executive Orders that is
inconsistent with the actions taken in this proclamation is superseded to
the extent of such inconsistency.
(7) Except as provided for in clause (8) of this proclamation, the
modifications to the HTS made by this proclamation, including Annex I,
shall be effective with respect to goods entered, or withdrawn from
warehouse for consumption, on or after 12:01 a.m. eastern standard time on
February 7, 2018, and shall continue in effect as provided in Annex I to
this proclamation, unless such actions are earlier expressly reduced,
modified, or terminated. Any modifications to the HTS made pursuant to
clause (3) or (4) of this proclamation shall take effect as indicated in a
Federal Register notice published in accordance with those clauses. One
year from the termination of the safeguard measure established in this
proclamation, the U.S. note and tariff provisions established in Annex I to
this proclamation shall be deleted from the HTS.
(8) The modifications to the HTS set forth in Annex II to this proclamation
shall be effective with respect to the articles entered, or withdrawn from
warehouse for consumption, on or after the dates set forth in the relevant
sections of Annex II.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this
twenty-third day of January, in the year of our Lord
two thousand eighteen, and of the Independence of the
United States of America the two hundred and forty-
second.
(Presidential Sig.)
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[FR Doc. 2018-01592
Filed 1-24-18; 2: pm]
Billing code 7020-02-C