[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 246 (Monday, December 23, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 70565-70567]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-27627]


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INTERNATIONAL TRADE COMMISSION

[Investigation No. TA-201-75 (Modification)]


Crystalline Silicon Photovoltaic Cells, Whether or Not Partially 
or Fully Assembled into Other Products: Advice on the Probable Economic 
Effect of Certain Modifications to the Safeguard Measure

AGENCY: United States International Trade Commission.

ACTION: Notice of investigation.

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SUMMARY: Following receipt on December 6, 2019, of a request from the 
United States Trade Representative (USTR), the Commission instituted 
Investigation No. TA-201-75 (Modification), Crystalline Silicon 
Photovoltaic Cells, Whether or Not Partially or Fully Assembled Into 
Other Products: Advice on the Probable Economic Effect of Certain 
Modifications to the Safeguard Measure under section 204(a)(4) of the 
Trade Act of 1974 (Trade Act) to advise the President of the probable 
economic effect on the domestic crystalline silicon photovoltaic (CSPV) 
cell and module manufacturing industry of modifying the safeguard 
measure on imports of CSPV products, as described in Proclamation 9693 
of January 23, 2018.

DATES: 
    January 6, 2020: Deadline for filing written submissions.
    January 13, 2020: Deadline for filing responses to written 
submissions.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Project Leader Dylan Carlson of the 
Office of Industries (202-205-3457 or [email protected]) or 
Deputy Project Leader Lauren Gamache of the Office of Economics (202-
205-3489 or [email protected]) for information specific to this 
investigation. For information on the

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legal aspects of this investigation, contact William Gearhart of the 
Commission's Office of the General Counsel (202-205-3091 or 
[email protected]). The media should contact Margaret 
O'Laughlin, Office of External Relations (202-205-1819 or 
[email protected]). Hearing-impaired persons can obtain 
information on this matter by contacting the Commission's TDD terminal 
on 202-205-1810. Persons with mobility impairments who will need 
special assistance in gaining access to the Commission should contact 
the Office of the Secretary at 202-205-2000. General information 
concerning the Commission may also be obtained by accessing its website 
(https://www.usitc.gov). The public record for this investigation may 
be viewed on the Commission's electronic docket (EDIS) at https://edis.usitc.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    Background.--On January 23, 2018, the President, pursuant to 
section 203 of the Trade Act (19 U.S.C. 2253), issued Proclamation 
9693, imposing a safeguard measure on imports of CSPV products, in the 
form of (a) a tariff-rate quota (TRQ) on certain imports of solar cells 
not partially or fully assembled into other products and (b) an 
increase in duties on certain imports of modules. The proclamation was 
published in the Federal Register on January 25, 2018 (83 FR 3541). The 
measure took effect on February 7, 2018, for a period of four years, or 
through February 6, 2022. The President imposed the measure following 
receipt of a report from the Commission in November 2017 under section 
202 of the Trade Act (19 U.S.C. 2252) that contained an affirmative 
determination, remedy recommendations, and certain additional findings 
(see Crystalline Silicon Photovoltaic Cells (Whether or not Partially 
or Fully Assembled into Other Products), investigation No. TA-201-75, 
USITC Publication 4739, November 2017).
    Section 204(a)(4) of the Trade Act (19 U.S.C. 2254(a)(4)) requires 
the Commission, upon request of the President, to advise the President 
of its judgment as to the probable economic effect on the industry 
concerned of any reduction, modification, or termination of the action 
taken under section 203 of the Trade Act which is under consideration. 
In his letter of December 6, 2019, the USTR, under authority delegated 
by the President and pursuant to section 204(a)(4) of the Trade Act, 
requested that the Commission provide its advice regarding the probable 
economic effect on the domestic CSPV cell and module manufacturing 
industry of modifying the safeguard measure. Specifically, the USTR 
requested that the Commission analyze the effect of increasing the 
level of the tariff-rate quota applicable to imports of CSPV cells from 
the current 2.5 gigawatts (GW) to 4, 5, or 6 GW, without other changes 
to the remedy. As requested, the Commission will provide its report to 
the USTR by no later than 30 days from the date of the report currently 
being prepared by the Commission under section 204(a)(2) of the Trade 
Act (Investigation No. TA-201-75 (Monitoring), Crystalline Silicon 
Photovoltaic Cells, Whether or Not Partially or Fully Assembled into 
Other Products: Monitoring Developments in the Domestic Industry).
    For further information concerning the conduct of this 
investigation and rules of general application, consult the 
Commission's Rules of Practice and Procedure, part 201, subparts A and 
B (19 CFR part 201), and part 206, subparts A and F (19 CFR part 206).
    Limited disclosure of confidential business information (CBI).--The 
Commission may include CBI in the report it sends to the President and 
to the USTR. Additionally, all information, including CBI, submitted in 
this investigation may be disclosed to and used by (i) the Commission, 
its employees and Offices, and contract personnel (a) for developing or 
maintaining the records of this or a related proceeding, or (b) in 
internal investigations, audits, reviews, and evaluations relating to 
the programs, personnel, and operations of the Commission including 
under 5 U.S.C. Appendix 3; or (ii) by U.S. government employees and 
contract personnel for cybersecurity purposes.
    The Commission will not release information which the Commission 
considers to be confidential business information unless the party 
submitting the confidential business information had notice, at the 
time of submission, that such information would be released by the 
Commission, or such party subsequently consents to the release of the 
information. The Commission will not otherwise disclose any CBI in a 
manner that would reveal the operations of the firm supplying the 
information.
    The Commission will not release CBI obtained in this investigation 
to representatives of other interested parties under an administrative 
protective order (APO). Interested parties who may have obtained CBI 
under the APO issued in the ongoing Investigation No. TA-201-75 
(Monitoring), Crystalline Silicon Photovoltaic Cells, Whether or Not 
Partially or Fully Assembled Into Other Products: Report on Monitoring 
of Developments in the Domestic Industry, should be aware that they may 
not use CBI obtained under the APO in that monitoring investigation in 
this modification proceeding. Such use in this modification proceeding 
will likely constitute a breach of the APO that they signed in the 
monitoring investigation. Any person with questions should contact the 
Office of the Secretary at 202-205-2000.
    Written submissions.--Interested parties are invited to file 
written submissions concerning this investigation with the Commission. 
The Commission requests, in particular, that domestic producers of CSPV 
cells and/or modules provide in their written submissions estimates and 
projections for their production, capacity, number of production 
workers, and exports of cells and modules separately in 2019, 2020, and 
2021, as well as any information, estimates, or projections on the 
price or production cost per watt of U.S. manufactured cells. In 
addition, the Commission requests that domestic producers describe how 
modifications to the TRQ, as described in USTR's request letter, would 
affect current and future investments in U.S. cell and module 
manufacturing. Written submissions must not exceed twenty (20) pages of 
textual material, double-spaced and singled-sided, when printed on 
pages measuring 8.5 x 11 inches. All written submissions must be 
addressed to the Secretary, and should be received not later than 5:15 
p.m., January 6, 2020.
    Persons wishing to have a summary of their written submission 
included in the report should include a summary along with their 
written submission and should specifically identify the summary as 
being for this purpose. Summaries should not include CBI. The summaries 
will be published in an appendix to the report. The summary may not 
exceed 500 words and should be in MS Word format or a format that can 
be easily converted to MS Word. The summary will be published as 
provided if it meets these requirements and is germane to the subject 
matter of the investigation. The Commission will list the name of the 
organization furnishing the summary and will include a link to the 
Commission's Electronic Document Information System (EDIS) where the 
full written submission can be found. The summary and additional 
exhibits with relevant factual information will not count toward the 
20-page limit of the full written submission.
    Interested parties are also invited to file a response to written 
submissions

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made by other interested parties. Such responses must not contain any 
new factual information, and must only address information and 
arguments in written submissions filed by other interested parties. 
Responses to written submissions must not exceed five (5) pages of 
textual material, double-spaced and singled-sided, when printed on 
pages measuring 8.5 x 11 inches. All responses to written submissions 
should be addressed to the Secretary, and must be received no later 
than 5:15 p.m., January 13, 2020.
    All written submissions and subsequent responses must conform with 
the provisions of section 201.8 of the Commission's rules; any 
submissions that contain CBI must also conform with the requirements of 
section 201.6 of the Commission's rules. Any CBI that is provided may 
be included in the report that the Commission sends to the President 
and the U.S. Trade Representative. The Commission's Handbook on E-
Filing, available on the Commission's website at https://edis.usitc.gov, elaborates upon the Commission's rules with respect to 
electronic filing. Persons with questions regarding electronic filing 
should contact the Office of the Secretary, Docket Services Division 
(202-205-1802).
    Additional written submissions to the Commission, including 
requests pursuant to section 201.12 of the Commission's rules, will not 
be accepted unless good cause is shown for accepting such submissions, 
or unless the submission is pursuant to a specific request by a 
Commissioner or Commission staff.
    Authority: This investigation is being conducted under the 
authority of section 204(a)(4) of the Trade Act of 1974; this notice is 
published pursuant to section 206.3 of the Commission's rules.

    By order of the Commission.
    Issued: December 18, 2019.
Lisa Barton,
Secretary to the Commission.
[FR Doc. 2019-27627 Filed 12-20-19; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 7020-02-P