G/SG/N/10/USA/7/Suppl.7  
 
20 December  2019 
(19-8921) Page: 1/2 
Committee on Safeguards  Original: English  
 
 
NOTIFICATION UNDER A RTICLE 12.1(C) UPON TAKING  
A DECISION TO APPLY OR EXTEND A SAFEGUAR D MEASURE  
UNITED STATES   
Crystalline Silicon Photovoltaic Cells  
(Whether or Not Partially or Fully Assembled into Other Products)  
Supplement  
The following communication, dated  20 December 2019, is being circulated at the request of the 
delegation of the United States.  
 
_______________  
 
 
Pursuant to Article 12.1(c) of the WTO Agreement on Safeguards (Safeguards Agreement), the 
United States notifies the Committee that the U.S. International Trade Commission (Commission) 
has initiated a proceeding to advise the President of the probable economic effect on the domestic 
crystalline silicon photovoltaic (CSPV) cell and module manufacturing industry of modifyi ng the 
safeguard measure on imports of CSPV products. The Commission began this proceeding in response 
to a December 6, 2019 letter from the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) to 
the Commission.  
1. Specify the date when the proceeding was  initiated  
The Commission initiated the proceeding on 18 December 2019.  
A copy of the notice instituting the proceeding is attached* and includes the deadlines for the filing 
of written submissions and any applicable rules of procedure.  
2. Provide the precis e description of the product involved  
The products covered by this proceeding are described in the Presidential Proclamation published in 
the Federal Register on 25 January 2018, and notified in G/SG/N/8/USA/9/Suppl.4 - 
G/SG/N/10/USA/7 - G/SG/N/11/USA/6 (d ated 26 January 2018).  
3. Provide the reasons for the initiation of the proceeding  
Section 204(a)(4) of the Trade Act of 1974 (the Trade Act) (19 U.S.C. sec. 2254(a)(4)) requires the 
Commission, upon request of the President, to advise the President of its ju dgment 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. On December 6, 2019, 
USTR, acting under authority delega ted by the President, 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 Commissi on 
analyze the effect of increasing the level of the tariff -rate quota applicable to imports of CSPV cells 
 
* To consult this document, please contact Ms Richards ( anne.richards@wto.org ) or Ms Naville 
(delphine.naville@wto.org ) of the Rules Division.  G/SG/N/10/USA/7/Suppl.7  
 
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  from the current 2.5 gigawatts (GW) to 4, 5, or 6 GW without other changes to the safeguard 
measure.  
The Commission will provide its report to the US TR by no later than 30 days from the date of the 
report currently being prepared by the Commission under section 204(a)(2) (19 U.S.C. 
sec. 2254(a)(2)) of the Trade Act (Investigation No. TA -201-75 (Monitoring), Crystalline Silicon 
Photovoltaic Cells, Wheth er or Not Partially or Fully Assembled into Other Products: Monitoring 
Developments in the Domestic Industry).  
4. Provide a point of contact for the proceeding and identify the preferred means for 
corresponding  
The point of contact for the proceeding is:  
Dylan Carlson  
Office of Industries  
U.S. International Trade Commission  
500 E Street, SW  
Washington, DC 20436  
Tel: (202 -205-3457)  
The public record for this proceeding may be viewed on the Commission 's electronic docket (EDIS) 
at https://edis.usitc.gov . 
5. Provide the deadlines and procedures for importers, exporters and other interested 
parties to present evidence and their views, including (i) deadlines and procedures 
for Members and exporters to  identify themselves as interested parties, if so required, 
to participate in the proceeding and (ii) the date of the intended public hearing as 
provided for in Article 3.1  
Interested parties are invited to file written submissions not later than 5:15pm on  January 6, 2020. 
Interested parties are also invited to file a response to written submissions made by other interested 
parties. Such responses must be received no later than 5:15pm on January 13, 2020.  
The attached notice provides further information reg arding deadlines and procedures applicable to 
this proceeding.  
The Commission 's Handbook on E -Filing, available on the Commission 's website at 
https://www.usitc.gov/secretary/documents/handbook_on_filing_procedures.pdf , elaborates upon 
the Commission 's rules with respect to electronic filing.  
 
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