[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 73 (Tuesday, April 16, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 15585-15587]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-07540]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[C-570-011]


Certain Crystalline Silicon Photovoltaic Products From the 
People's Republic of China: Preliminary Results of Countervailing Duty 
Administrative Review, and Rescission of Review in Part; 2017

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

SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce (Commerce) preliminarily determines 
that producers and/or exporters subject to this administrative review 
received countervailable subsidies during the period of review (POR), 
January 1, 2017, through December 31, 2017. Interested parties are 
invited to comment on these preliminary results.

DATES: Applicable April 16, 2019.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Gene H. Calvert, AD/CVD Operations, 
Office VII, Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade 
Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue 
NW, Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-3586.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    Commerce published the initiation of this administrative review on 
April 16, 2018.\1\ This review covers three producers/exporters: Risen 
Energy Co., Ltd.; Shenzhen Sungold Solar Co., Ltd.; and Sol-Lite 
Manufacturing Co., Ltd. Commerce exercised its discretion to toll all 
deadlines affected by the partial federal government closure from 
December 22, 2018, through the resumption of operations on January 29, 
2019.\2\ As a result, the revised deadline for these preliminary 
results was extended to March 10, 2019.\3\ On March 8, 2019, we 
extended the deadline for these preliminary results by 30 days to April 
9, 2019.\4\
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    \1\ See Initiation of Antidumping and Countervailing Duty 
Administrative Reviews, 83 FR 16298 (April 16, 2018).
    \2\ See Memorandum to the Record from 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, ``Deadlines 
Affected by the Partial Shutdown of the Federal Government,'' dated 
January 28, 2019. As a result, all deadlines in this segment of the 
proceeding have been extended by 40 days.
    \3\ The March 10, 2019 deadline was a Sunday. As a result, this 
deadline fell to the next business day. See Notice of Clarification: 
Application of ``Next Business Day'' Rule for Administrative 
Determination Deadlines Pursuant to the Tariff Act of 1930, as 
Amended, 70 FR 24533 (May 10, 2005).
    \4\ See Memorandum, ``Administrative Review of the 
Countervailing Duty Order on Certain Crystalline Silicon 
Photovoltaic Products from the People's Republic of China, Second 
Extension of Deadline for Preliminary Results,'' dated March 8, 
2019. We note that this 30-day extension is from the March 10, 2019 
deadline, which was a non-business day. Accordingly, the revised 
deadline for these preliminary results is April 9, 2019.
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Scope of the Order

    The merchandise covered by this order are 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. For purposes of this order, subject 
merchandise includes modules, laminates and/or panels assembled in the 
China consisting of crystalline silicon photovoltaic cells produced in 
a customs territory other than China. For a complete description of the 
scope of this administrative review, see the Preliminary Decision 
Memorandum.\5\
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    \5\ See Memorandum, ``Decision Memorandum for the Preliminary 
Results in the Countervailing Duty Administrative Review of Certain 
Crystalline Silicon Photovoltaic Products from the People's Republic 
of China; 2017,'' dated concurrently with and hereby adopted by this 
notice (Preliminary Decision Memorandum).
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Methodology

    Commerce is conducting this administrative review in accordance 
with section 751(a)(1)(A) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (the 
Act). For each of the subsidy programs found to be countervailable, 
Commerce preliminarily finds that there is a subsidy (i.e., a financial 
contribution from an authority that gives rise to a benefit to the 
recipient) and that the subsidy is specific.\6\ Commerce notes that, in 
making these findings, we relied on total facts available and, because 
we find that the mandatory respondents did not act to the best of their 
ability to respond to Commerce's request for information, Commerce drew 
an adverse inference in selecting from the facts otherwise 
available.\7\ For further information, see ``Use of Facts Otherwise 
Available and Application of Adverse Inferences,'' in the accompanying 
Preliminary Decision Memorandum. A list of topics discussed in the 
Preliminary Decision Memorandum is provided at Appendix I to this 
notice.
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    \6\ See section 771(5)(B) and (D) of the Act regarding financial 
contribution; section 771(5)(E) of the Act regarding benefit; and 
section 771(5A) of the Act regarding specificity.
    \7\ See sections 776(a) and (b) of the Act.
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    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 
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 at http://enforcement.trade.gov/frn/index.html. The signed Preliminary Decision 
Memorandum and the electronic version of the Preliminary Decision 
Memorandum are identical in content.

Rescission of Administrative Review, in Part

    Pursuant to 19 CFR 351.213(d)(1), the Secretary will rescind an 
administrative review, in whole or in part, if the parties that 
requested a review withdraw the request within 90 days of the date of 
publication of the notice of initiation of the requested review. This 
review was initiated on April 16, 2018. On July 16, 2018, Shenzhen 
Letsolar Technology Co., Ltd. (Letsolar) timely withdrew its request 
for review of its own entries.\8\ As no other party requested an 
administrative review of Letsolar, we are rescinding this review with 
respect to Letsolar, in accordance with 19 CFR 351.213(d)(1).
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    \8\ See Letter from Letsolar, ``Letsolar Withdrawal of Review 
Request for Administrative Review of the Countervailing Duty Order 
on Crystalline Silicon Photovoltaic Products from the People's 
Republic of China,'' dated July 16, 2018.
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    Further, we received timely filed certifications of no shipments 
from Shanghai JA Solar Technology Co., Ltd. and Hefei JA Solar 
Technology Co., Ltd. (collectively, JA Solar).\9\ To confirm JA Solar's 
statement, we issued a no-shipment inquiry to U.S. Customs and Border 
Protection (CBP) with respect to

[[Page 15586]]

imports of subject merchandise from JA Solar during the POR.\10\ On 
April 4, 2019, CBP responded to our no-shipment inquiry regarding JA 
Solar stating that it found no shipments of solar products from China 
that were produced and/or exported by JA Solar during the POR.\11\ As 
there is no evidence on the record that JA Solar made entries of 
subject merchandise into the United States during the POR, we are 
rescinding this review with respect to JA Solar, in accordance with 19 
CFR 351.213(d)(3).
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    \9\ See Letter from JA Solar, ``Certain Crystalline Silicon 
Photovoltaic Products from the People's Republic of China: No 
Shipment Certification of Shanghai JA Solar Technology Co., Ltd. and 
Hefei JA Solar Technology Co., Ltd.,'' dated May 16, 2018.
    \10\ See CBP Message No. 9093304, dated April 3, 2019.
    \11\ See Memorandum, ``No shipment inquiry with respect to the 
companies below during the period 01/01/2017 through 12/31/2017,'' 
dated April 4, 2019.
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Preliminary Rate for Non-Selected Companies Under Review

    The statute and Commerce's regulations do not directly address the 
establishment of rates to be applied to companies not selected for 
individual examination where Commerce limits its examination in an 
administrative review pursuant to section 777A(e)(2) of the Act. 
Commerce normally determines the rates for non-selected companies in 
reviews in a manner that is consistent with section 705(c)(5) of the 
Act, which provides instructions for calculating the all-others rate in 
an investigation. Section 705(c)(5)(A)(ii) of the Act provides that, if 
the countervailable subsidy rates established for all individually-
examined exporters/producers are de minimis or based entirely on 
adverse facts available under section 776 of the Act, Commerce may use 
any reasonable method to establish a subsidy rate for exporters/
producers that were not individually-examined, including averaging the 
weighted-average countervailable subsidy rates determined for the 
individually-examined exporters and producers.
    In this review, the countervailable subsidy rates calculated for 
the three mandatory respondents are based entirely on facts available 
pursuant to section 776 of the Act. Accordingly, we are using ``any 
reasonable method'' to establish the subsidy rate for the non-selected 
companies under review. We find that it is reasonable to rely on the 
rates established for the mandatory respondents as the rate for the 
non-selected companies under review, particularly because there is no 
other information on the record that can be used to determine the rate 
for the non-selected companies. This method is consistent with our past 
practice.\12\ A list of these non-selected companies can be found at 
Appendix II of this notice.
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    \12\ See, e.g. Circular Welded Carbon-Quality Steel Pipe from 
Pakistan: Preliminary Affirmative Countervailing Duty Determination 
and Alignment of Final Countervailing Duty Determination with Final 
Antidumping Duty Determination, 81 FR 20619 (April 8, 2016), 
unchanged in Circular Welded Carbon-Quality Steel Pipe from 
Pakistan: Final Affirmative Countervailing Duty Determination, 81 FR 
75045 (October 28, 2016) (assigning the sole mandatory respondent's 
rate, which was based on adverse facts available, as the all-others 
rate), and Circular Welded Carbon-Quality Steel Pipe from India: 
Preliminary Affirmative Countervailing Duty Determination and 
Alignment of Final Countervailing Duty Determination with Final 
Antidumping Duty Determination, 77 FR 19192 (March 30, 2012), 
unchanged in Circular Welded Carbon-Quality Steel Pipe from India: 
Final Affirmative Countervailing Duty Determination, 77 FR 64468 
(October 22, 2012) (assigning the average of the mandatory 
respondents' rates, which were based solely on adverse facts 
available, as the all-others rate).
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Preliminary Results of Review

    We preliminarily determine the net countervailable subsidy rates 
for the period January 1, 2017, through December 31, 2017, are as 
follows:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                Subsidy
                           Company                               rate
                                                               (percent)
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Risen Energy Co., Ltd.......................................       94.83
Shenzhen Sungold Solar Co., Ltd.............................       94.83
Sol-Lite Manufacturing Co., Ltd.............................       94.83
Non-Selected Companies Under Review \13\....................       94.83
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Assessment and Cash Deposit Requirement

    In accordance with 19 CFR 351.221(b)(4)(i), we assigned a subsidy 
rate for each producer/exporter subject to this administrative review. 
Upon issuance of the final results, Commerce shall determine, and CBP 
shall assess, countervailing duties on all appropriate entries covered 
by this review. We intend to issue instructions to CBP 15 days after 
the publication of the final results of this review. For companies for 
which this review is rescinded, Commerce will instruct CBP to assess 
countervailing duties on all appropriate entries at a rate equal to the 
cash deposit of estimated countervailing duties required at the time of 
entry, or withdrawal from warehouse, for consumption, during the period 
January 1, 2017, through December 31, 2017, in accordance with 19 CFR 
351.212(c)(1)(i). Commerce intends to issue appropriate assessment 
instructions directly to CBP 15 days after publication of this notice.
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    \13\ See Appendix II.
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    Pursuant to section 751(a)(2)(C) of the Act, Commerce also intends 
to instruct CBP to collect cash deposits of estimated countervailing 
duties, in the amounts shown above for each of the respective companies 
shown above, on shipments of subject merchandise entered, or withdrawn 
from warehouse, for consumption, on or after the date of publication of 
the final results of review. For all non-reviewed firms, we will 
instruct CBP to continue to collect cash deposits at the most-recent 
company-specific or all-others rate applicable to the company, as 
appropriate. These cash deposit requirements, when imposed, shall 
remain in effect until further notice.

Disclosure and Public Comment

    Because Commerce had reached its conclusions on the basis of 
adverse facts available, the calculations performed in connection with 
these preliminary results are based on public information and are 
described in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum. Interested parties 
may submit case and rebuttal briefs, as well as request a hearing.\14\ 
For a schedule of the deadlines for filing case briefs, rebuttal 
briefs, and for requesting a hearing, see the Preliminary Decision 
Memorandum.
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    \14\ See 19 CFR 351.309(c)-(d), and 19 CFR 351.310(c); see also 
19 CFR 351.303 (for general filing requirements).
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Notification to Interested Parties

    Commerce is issuing and publishing these preliminary results in 
accordance with sections 751(a)(1) and 777(i)(1) of the Act, and 19 CFR 
351.213 and 351.221(b)(4).

     Dated: April 8, 2019.
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.

Appendix I--List of Topics Discussed in the Preliminary Decision 
Memorandum

I. Summary
II. Background
III. Rescission of Administrative Review, In Part
IV. Scope of the Order
V. Application of the Countervailing Duty Law to Imports From China
VI. Use of Fact Otherwise Available and Application of Adverse 
Inferences
    Application of Total Adverse Facts Available
    Calculation of the AFA Rates for the Mandatory Respondents
    Corroboration of AFA Rates
VII. Subsidy Rate for Non-Selected Companies Under Review
VIII. Disclosure and Public Comment
IX. Conclusion
Appendix I--AFA Rate Calculation
Appendix II--Non-Selected Companies Under Review

[[Page 15587]]

Appendix II--Non-Selected Companies Under Review

1. Changzhou Trina Solar Energy Co., Ltd.
2. Chint Solar (Zhejiang) Co., Ltd.
3. Hefei JA Solar Technology Co., Ltd.
4. Ri Shen Products (SZ) Ltd.
5. Shanghai JA Solar Technology Co., Ltd.
6. Sunny Apex Development Limited
7. Trina Solar (Changzhou) Science & Technology Co., Ltd.

[FR Doc. 2019-07540 Filed 4-15-19; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P