[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 193 (Friday, October 4, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 80874-80877]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-22993]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[C-549-852]


Crystalline Silicon Photovoltaic Cells, Whether or Not Assembled 
Into Modules, From Thailand: Preliminary Affirmative Countervailing 
Duty Determination, Preliminary Affirmative Critical Circumstances 
Determination, in Part, and Alignment of Final Determination With Final 
Antidumping Duty Determination

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

SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of Commerce (Commerce) preliminarily 
determines that countervailable subsidies are being provided to 
producers and exporters of crystalline silicon photovoltaic cells, 
whether or not assembled into modules (solar cells), from Thailand. The 
period of investigation (POI) is January 1, 2023, through December 31, 
2023. Interested parties are invited to comment on this preliminary 
determination.

DATES: Applicable October 4, 2024.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Shane Subler or Henry Wolfe, AD/CVD 
Operations, Office VIII, Enforcement and Compliance, International 
Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution 
Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-6241, and (202) 
482-0574, respectively.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    This preliminary determination is made in accordance with section 
703(b) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (the Act). Commerce 
published the notice of initiation of this investigation on May 20, 
2024.\1\ On July 3, 2024, Commerce postponed the preliminary 
determination of this investigation.\2\ On July 22, 2024, Commerce 
tolled certain deadlines in this administrative proceeding by seven 
days.\3\ The deadline for the preliminary determination is now 
September 30, 2024.
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    \1\ See Crystalline Silicon Photovoltaic Cells, Whether or Not 
Assembled Into Modules, From Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand, and the 
Socialist Republic of Vietnam: Initiation of Countervailing Duty 
Investigations, 89 FR 43816 (May 20, 2024) (Initiation Notice).
    \2\ See Crystalline Silicon Photovoltaic Cells, Whether or Not 
Assembled Into Modules, From Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand, and the 
Socialist Republic of Vietnam: Postponement of Preliminary 
Determination in the Countervailing Duty Investigation, 88 FR 43295 
(July 3, 2024).
    \3\ See Memorandum, ``Tolling of Deadlines for Antidumping and 
Countervailing Duty Proceedings,'' dated July 22, 2024.
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    For a complete description of the events that followed the 
initiation of this investigation, see the Preliminary Decision 
Memorandum.\4\ A list of topics discussed in the Preliminary Decision 
Memorandum is included as Appendix II to this notice. 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 https://access.trade.gov. In addition, a complete 
version of the Preliminary Decision Memorandum can be accessed directly 
at https://access.trade.gov/public/FRNoticesListLayout.aspx.
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    \4\ See Memorandum, ``Decision Memorandum for the Preliminary 
Affirmative Determination and Preliminary Affirmative Critical 
Circumstances Determination, in Part, in the Countervailing Duty 
Investigation of Crystalline Silicon Photovoltaic Cells, Whether or 
Not Assembled into Modules, from Thailand,'' dated concurrently 
with, and hereby adopted by, this notice (Preliminary Decision 
Memorandum).
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Scope of the Investigation

    The products covered by this investigation are solar cells. For a 
complete description of the scope of this investigation, see Appendix 
I.

Scope Comments

    In accordance with the Preamble to Commerce's regulations,\5\ the 
Initiation Notice set aside a period of time for parties to raise 
issues regarding product coverage, (i.e., scope).\6\ We received 
several comments concerning the scope of this investigation, as well as 
in the companion less-than-fair-value (LTFV) and other countervailing 
duty (CVD) investigations of solar cells, as it appeared in the 
Initiation Notice. We intend to issue our preliminary decision 
regarding the scope of the LTFV and CVD investigations in the 
preliminary determinations of the companion LTFV investigations, the 
deadline of which is November 27, 2024.\7\ We will

[[Page 80875]]

incorporate the scope decisions from the LTFV investigations into the 
scope of the final CVD determination for this investigation after 
considering any relevant comments submitted in scope case and rebuttal 
briefs.\8\
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    \5\ See Antidumping Duties; Countervailing Duties, Final Rule, 
62 FR 27296, 27323 (May 19, 1997).
    \6\ See Initiation Notice.
    \7\ See Crystalline Silicon Photovoltaic Cells, Whether or Not 
Assembled Into Modules, From Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand, and the 
Socialist Republic of Vietnam: Postponement of Preliminary 
Determinations in the Less-Than-Fair-Value Investigations 89 FR 
77473 (September 23, 2024) (LTFV Prelim Postponement).
    \8\ The deadline for interested parties to submit scope case and 
rebuttal briefs will be established in the preliminary scope 
decision memorandum.
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Methodology

    Commerce is conducting this investigation in accordance with 
section 701 of the Act. For each of the subsidy programs found to be 
countervailable, Commerce preliminarily determines that there is a 
subsidy, i.e., a financial contribution by an ``authority'' that gives 
rise to a benefit to the recipient, and that the subsidy is 
specific.\9\ In making its determination, Commerce relied, in part, on 
facts otherwise available. Further, because Commerce found that certain 
parties did not act to the best of their abilities to respond to 
Commerce's requests for information, Commerce has drawn an adverse 
inference where appropriate in selecting from among the facts otherwise 
available.\10\ For a full description of the methodology underlying our 
preliminary determination, see the Preliminary Decision Memorandum.
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    \9\ See sections 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.
    \10\ See sections 776(a) and (b) of the Act.
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Preliminary Affirmative Determination of Critical Circumstances, in 
Part

    In accordance with section 703(e)(1) of the Act, Commerce 
preliminarily determines that critical circumstances do not exist with 
respect to mandatory respondent Trina Solar Science & Technology 
(Thailand) Ltd. (TTL), which received a de minimis preliminary net 
countervailable subsidy rate. However, Commerce preliminarily 
determines that critical circumstances exist with respect to imports of 
subject merchandise from (1) Sunshine Electrical Energy (Sunshine 
Electrical); and (2) Taihua New Energy (Thailand) Co. Ltd. (Taihua New 
Energy). Commerce also preliminary determines that critical 
circumstances exist with respect to imports from all other producers 
and exporters that enter subject merchandise under the All Others 
subsidy rate. For a full description of the methodology and results of 
Commerce's analysis, see the Preliminary Decision Memorandum.

Alignment

    In accordance with section 705(a)(1) of the Act and 19 CFR 
351.210(b)(4), Commerce is aligning the final CVD determination with 
the final determination in the companion LTFV investigation of solar 
cells from Thailand based on a request made by the petitioner.\11\ 
Consequently, the final CVD determination will be issued on the same 
date as the final LTFV determination, which is currently scheduled to 
be issued no later than February 10, 2025, unless postponed.
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    \11\ See Petitioner's Letter, ``Request to Align Countervailing 
Duty Investigation Final Determinations with Antidumping Duty 
Investigation Final Determinations,'' dated September 23, 2024.
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All-Others Rate

    Sections 703(d) and 705(c)(5)(A) of the Act state that in the 
preliminary determination, Commerce shall determine an estimated all-
others rate for companies not individually examined. Section 
705(c)(5)(A)(i) of the Act states that for companies not individually 
investigated, Commerce will determine an ``all-others'' rate equal to 
the weighted average countervailable subsidy rates established for 
exporters and producers individually investigated, excluding any zero 
and de minimis countervailable subsidy rates, and any rates determined 
entirely under section 776 of the Act. If the rates established for all 
exporters and producers individually investigated are zero, de minimis, 
or determined entirely under facts available, Commerce may use any 
reasonable method to establish an all-others rate.\12\ For this 
preliminary determination, Commerce has determined Sunshine 
Electrical's and Taihua New Energy's rates entirely under facts 
available with an adverse inference. Additionally, TTL's preliminary 
subsidy rate is de minimis. Therefore, in accordance with section 
705(c)(5)(A)(ii) of the Act, we are preliminarily applying a simple 
average of the subsidy rates calculated for Sunshine Electrical, Taihua 
New Energy, and TTL as the all-others rate.\13\
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    \12\ See sections 705(c)(5)(A)(i) and (ii) of the Act.
    \13\ See, e.g., Non-Oriented Electrical Steel From Taiwan: Final 
Affirmative Countervailing Duty Determination, 79 FR 71602 (October 
14, 2014), and accompanying IDM at Comment 11.
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Preliminary Determination

    Commerce preliminarily determines that the following estimated 
countervailable subsidy rates exist:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                          Subsidy rate
                        Company                            (percent ad
                                                            valorem)
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Trina Solar Science & Technology (Thailand) Ltd.......           ** 0.14
Sunshine Electrical Energy............................           * 34.52
Taihua New Energy (Thailand) Co. Ltd..................           * 34.52
All Others............................................             23.06
------------------------------------------------------------------------
* Rate based on facts available with adverse inferences.
** De minimis.

Suspension of Liquidation

    With the exception of entries from TTL, in accordance with sections 
703(d)(1)(B) and (d)(2) of the Act, Commerce will direct U.S. Customs 
and Border Protection (CBP) to suspend liquidation of entries of 
subject merchandise as described in Appendix I to this notice entered, 
or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or after the date of 
the publication of this notice in the Federal Register. Further, 
pursuant to 19 CFR 351.205(d), Commerce will instruct CBP to require a 
cash deposit equal to the rates indicated above. Because we 
preliminarily determine that the CVD rate in this investigation for TTL 
is de minimis, we will not direct CBP to suspend liquidation of TTL's 
entries of the subject merchandise from Thailand.
    Section 703(e)(2) of the Act provides that, given an affirmative 
determination of critical circumstances, any suspension of liquidation 
shall apply to unliquidated entries of subject merchandise entered, or 
withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or after the later of: (a) 
the date which is 90 days before the date on which the suspension of 
liquidation was first ordered; or (b) the date on which notice of 
initiation of the investigation was published in the Federal Register. 
Commerce preliminarily finds that critical circumstances exist for 
imports of subject merchandise produced and/or exported by: (1) 
Sunshine Electrical; (2) Taihua New Energy, and, from all other 
producers and exporters whose imports enter under the all others 
subsidy rate. In accordance with section 703(e)(2)(A) of the Act, the 
suspension of liquidation shall apply to unliquidated entries of 
merchandise from the exporters/producers identified in this paragraph 
that were entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or 
after the date which is 90 days before the publication of this notice 
in the Federal Register.

[[Page 80876]]

Disclosure

    Commerce intends to disclose its calculations and analysis 
performed to interested parties in this preliminary determination 
within five days of its public announcement, or if there is no public 
announcement, within five days of the date of this notice in accordance 
with 19 CFR 351.224(b).
    Consistent with 19 CFR 351.224(e), Commerce will analyze and, if 
appropriate, correct any timely allegations of significant ministerial 
errors by amending the preliminary determination. However, consistent 
with 19 CFR 351.224(d), Commerce will not consider incomplete 
allegations that do not address the significance standard under 19 CFR 
351.224(g) following the preliminary determination. Instead, Commerce 
will address such allegations in the final determination together with 
issues raised in the case briefs or other written comments.

Verification

    As provided in section 782(i)(1) of the Act, Commerce intends to 
verify the information relied upon in making its final determination.

Public Comment

    All interested parties will have the opportunity to submit scope 
case and rebuttal briefs on the preliminary decision regarding the 
scope of the LTFV and CVD investigations. The deadlines to submit scope 
case and rebuttal briefs will be provided in the preliminary scope 
decision memorandum. For all scope case and rebuttal briefs, parties 
must file identical documents simultaneously on the records of the 
ongoing LTFV and CVD solar cell investigations. No new factual 
information or business proprietary information may be included in 
either scope case or rebuttal briefs.
    Case briefs or other written comments may be submitted to the 
Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance no later than seven 
days after the date on which the last verification report is issued in 
this investigation.\14\ A timeline for the submission of case briefs 
and written comments will be notified to interested parties at a later 
date. Rebuttal briefs, limited to issues raised in the case briefs, may 
be filed not later than five days after the date for filing case 
briefs.\15\ Interested parties who submit case briefs or rebuttal 
briefs in this proceeding must submit: (1) a table of contents listing 
each issue; and (2) a table of authorities.\16\
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    \14\ See 19 CFR 351.309(c)(1)(i); see also 19 CFR 351.303 (for 
general filing requirements).
    \15\ See 19 CFR 351.309(d); see also Administrative Protective 
Order, Service, and Other Procedures in Antidumping and 
Countervailing Duty Proceedings, 88 FR 67069, 67077 (September 29, 
2023) (APO and Service Final Rule).
    \16\ See 19 351.309(c)(2) and (d)(2).
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    As provided under 19 CFR 351.309(c)(2) and (d)(2), in prior 
proceedings we have encouraged interested parties to provide an 
executive summary of their brief that should be limited to five pages 
total, including footnotes. In this investigation, we instead request 
that interested parties provide at the beginning of their briefs a 
public, executive summary for each issue raised in their briefs.\17\ 
Further, we request that interested parties limit their public, 
executive summary of each issue to no more than 450 words, not 
including citations. We intend to use the public, executive summaries 
as the basis of the comment summaries included in the issues and 
decision memorandum that will accompany the final determination in this 
investigation. We request that interested parties include footnotes for 
relevant citations in the public, executive summary of each issue. Note 
that Commerce has amended certain of its requirements pertaining to the 
service of documents in 19 CFR 351.303(f).\18\
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    \17\ We use the term ``issue'' here to describe an argument that 
Commerce would normally address in a comment of the Issues and 
Decision Memorandum.
    \18\ See APO and Service Final Rule.
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    Pursuant to 19 CFR 351.310(c), interested parties who wish to 
request a hearing, limited to issues raised in the case and rebuttal 
briefs, must submit a written request to the Assistant Secretary for 
Enforcement and Compliance, U.S. Department of Commerce within 30 days 
after the date of publication of this notice. Requests should contain 
the party's name, address, and telephone number, the number of 
participants, whether any participant is a foreign national, and a list 
of the issues to be discussed. If a request for a hearing is made, 
Commerce intends to hold the hearing at a time and date to be 
determined. Parties should confirm by telephone the date, time, and 
location of the hearing two days before the scheduled date.

U.S. International Trade Commission Notification

    In accordance with section 703(f) of the Act, Commerce will notify 
the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) of its determination. If 
the final determination is affirmative, the ITC will determine before 
the later of 120 days after the date of this preliminary determination 
or 45 days after the final determination whether imports of solar cells 
from Thailand are materially injuring, or threaten material injury to, 
the U.S. industry.\19\
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    \19\ See section 705(b)(2) of the Act.
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Notification to Interested Parties

    This determination is issued and published pursuant to sections 
703(f) and 777(i) of the Act, and 19 CFR 351.205(c).

    Dated: September 30, 2024.
Ryan Majerus,
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy and Negotiations, performing the 
non-exclusive functions and duties of the Assistant Secretary for 
Enforcement and Compliance.

Appendix I

Scope of the Investigation

    The merchandise covered by this investigation is crystalline 
silicon photovoltaic cells, and modules, laminates, and panels, 
consisting of crystalline silicon photovoltaic cells, whether or not 
partially or fully assembled into other products, including, but not 
limited to, modules, laminates, panels and building integrated 
materials.
    This investigation covers crystalline silicon photovoltaic cells 
of thickness equal to or greater than 20 micrometers, having a p/n 
junction formed by any means, whether or not the cell has undergone 
other processing, including, but not limited to, cleaning, etching, 
coating, and/or addition of materials (including, but not limited 
to, metallization and conductor patterns) to collect and forward the 
electricity that is generated by the cell.
    Merchandise under consideration may be described at the time of 
importation as parts for final finished products that are assembled 
after importation, including, but not limited to, modules, 
laminates, panels, building-integrated modules, building-integrated 
panels, or other finished goods kits. Such parts that otherwise meet 
the definition of merchandise under consideration are included in 
the scope of the investigation.
    Excluded from the scope of the investigation are thin film 
photovoltaic products produced from amorphous silicon (a-Si), 
cadmium telluride (CdTe), or copper indium gallium selenide (CIGS).
    Also excluded from the scope of the investigation are 
crystalline silicon photovoltaic cells, not exceeding 10,000 mm\2\ 
in surface area, that are permanently integrated into a consumer 
good whose function is other than power generation and that consumes 
the electricity generated by the integrated crystalline silicon 
photovoltaic cell. Where more than one cell is permanently 
integrated into a consumer good, the surface area for purposes of 
this exclusion shall be the total combined surface area of all cells 
that are integrated into the consumer good.
    Additionally, excluded from the scope of the investigation are 
panels with surface area

[[Page 80877]]

from 3,450 mm\2\ to 33,782 mm\2\ with one black wire and one red 
wire (each of type 22 AWG or 24 AWG not more than 206 mm in length 
when measured from panel extrusion), and not exceeding 2.9 volts, 
1.1 amps, and 3.19 watts. For the purposes of this exclusion, no 
panel shall contain an internal battery or external computer 
peripheral ports.
    Also excluded from the scope of the investigation are:
    (1) Off grid CSPV panels in rigid form with a glass cover, with 
the following characteristics: (A) a total power output of 100 watts 
or less per panel; (B) a maximum surface area of 8,000 cm\2\ per 
panel; (C) do not include a built-in inverter; (D) must include a 
permanently connected wire that terminates in either an 8 mm male 
barrel connector, or a two-port rectangular connector with two pins 
in square housings of different colors; (E) must include visible 
parallel grid collector metallic wire lines every 1-4 millimeters 
across each solar cell; and (F) must be in individual retail 
packaging (for purposes of this provision, retail packaging 
typically includes graphics, the product name, its description and/
or features, and foam for transport); and
    (2) Off grid CSPV panels without a glass cover, with the 
following characteristics: (A) a total power output of 100 watts or 
less per panel; (B) a maximum surface area of 8,000 cm\2\ per panel; 
(C) do not include a built-in inverter; (D) must include visible 
parallel grid collector metallic wire lines every 1-4 millimeters 
across each solar cell; and (E) each panel is (1) permanently 
integrated into a consumer good; (2) encased in a laminated material 
without stitching, or (3) has all of the following characteristics: 
(i) the panel is encased in sewn fabric with visible stitching, (ii) 
includes a mesh zippered storage pocket, and (iii) includes a 
permanently attached wire that terminates in a female USB-A 
connector.
    In addition, the following CSPV panels are excluded from the 
scope of the investigation: off-grid CSPV panels in rigid form with 
a glass cover, with each of the following physical characteristics, 
whether or not assembled into a fully completed off-grid hydropanel 
whose function is conversion of water vapor into liquid water: (A) a 
total power output of no more than 80 watts per panel; (B) a surface 
area of less than 5,000 square centimeters (cm\2\) per panel; (C) do 
not include a built-in inverter; (D) do not have a frame around the 
edges of the panel; (E) include a clear glass back panel; and (F) 
must include a permanently connected wire that terminates in a 
twoport rectangular connector.
    Additionally excluded from the scope of this investigation are 
off-grid small portable crystalline silicon photovoltaic panels, 
with or without a glass cover, with the following characteristics: 
(1) a total power output of 200 watts or less per panel; (2) a 
maximum surface area of 16,000 cm\2\ per panel; (3) no built-in 
inverter; (4) an integrated handle or a handle attached to the 
package for ease of carry; (5) one or more integrated kickstands for 
easy installation or angle adjustment; and (6) a wire of not less 
than 3 meters either permanently connected or attached to the 
package that terminates in an 8 mm diameter male barrel connector.
    Also excluded from the scope of this investigation are off-grid 
crystalline silicon photovoltaic panels in rigid form with a glass 
cover, with each of the following physical characteristics, whether 
or not assembled into a fully completed off-grid hydropanel whose 
function is conversion of water vapor into liquid water: (A) a total 
power output of no more than 180 watts per panel at 155 degrees 
Celsius; (B) a surface area of less than 16,000 square centimeters 
(cm\2\) per panel; (C) include a keep-out area of approximately 
1,200 cm\2\ around the edges of the panel that does not contain 
solar cells; (D) do not include a built-in inverter; (E) do not have 
a frame around the edges of the panel; (F) include a clear glass 
back panel; (G) must include a permanently connected wire that 
terminates in a two-port rounded rectangular, sealed connector; (H) 
include a thermistor installed into the permanently connected wire 
before the twoport connector; and (I) include exposed positive and 
negative terminals at opposite ends of the panel, not enclosed in a 
junction box.
    Modules, laminates, and panels produced in a third-country from 
cells produced in a subject country are covered by the 
investigation; however, modules, laminates, and panels produced in a 
subject country from cells produced in a third-country are not 
covered by the investigation.
    Also excluded from the scope of this investigation are all 
products covered by the scope of the antidumping and countervailing 
duty orders on Crystalline Silicon Photovoltaic Cells, Whether or 
Not Assembled into Modules, from the People's Republic of China: 
Amended Final Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value, and 
Antidumping Duty Order, 77 FR 73018 (December 7, 2012); and 
Crystalline Silicon Photovoltaic Cells, Whether or Not Assembled 
into Modules, from the People's Republic of China: Countervailing 
Duty Order, 77 FR 73017 (December 7, 2012).
    Merchandise covered by the investigation is currently classified 
in the Harmonized Tariff System of the United States (HTSUS) under 
subheadings 8541.42.0010 and 8541.43.0010. Imports of the subject 
merchandise may enter under HTSUS subheadings 8501.71.0000, 
8501.72.1000, 8501.72.2000, 8501.72.3000, 8501.72.9000, 
8501.80.1000, 8501.80.2000, 8501.80.3000, 8501.80.9000, 
8507.20.8010, 8507.20.8031, 8507.20.8041, 8507.20.8061, and 
8507.20.8091. These HTSUS subheadings are provided for convenience 
and customs purposes; the written description of the scope of the 
investigation is dispositive.

Appendix II

List of Topics Discussed in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum

I. Summary
II. Background
III. Scope Comments
IV. Alignment
V. Injury Test
VI. Allegation of Critical Circumstances
VII. Use of Facts Otherwise Available and Adverse Inferences
VIII. Subsidies Valuation Information
IX. Benchmarks for Measuring the Adequacy of Remuneration
X. Analysis of Programs
XI. Calculation of the All-Others Rate
XII. Critical Circumstances
XIII. Recommendation

[FR Doc. 2024-22993 Filed 10-3-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P