Solar Products: Commerce Intends to Exempt Solar Panels in Battery Chargers From AD/CV Duties
The Commerce Department intends to exempt solar panels incorporated into battery charging units from antidumping and countervailing duties on crystalline silicon photovoltaic products from China and Taiwan (A-570-010/C-570-011, A-583-853), it said in the preliminary results of a changed circumstances review (here). PulseTech Products had requested the exemption, and the original petitioner for the AD/CV duty orders on solar products, SolarWorld Americas, said it agrees with the proposed exemption (see 1611090020). No other domestic companies have expressed opposition. If Commerce decides to create the new exemption in the final results of this review, it will add the following language to the scope of these AD/CV duty orders:
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“Additionally, excluded from the scope of the order are solar panels that are: (1) less than 300,000 mm2 in surface area; (2) less than 27.1 watts in power; (3) coated across their entire surface with a polyurethane doming resin; and (4) joined to a battery charging and maintaining unit (which is an acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (‘ABS’) box that incorporates a light emitting diode (‘LED’)) by coated wires that include a connector to permit the incorporation of an extension cable. The battery charging and maintaining unit utilizes high-frequency triangular pulse waveforms designed to maintain and extend the life of batteries through the reduction of lead sulfate crystals. The above-described battery charging and maintaining unit is currently available under the registered trademark ‘SolarPulse.’”
The final results of this changed circumstances review are due in August. If Commerce has not completed any administrative reviews on solar products from China and Taiwan, the partial revocation of the order will apply to all unliquidated entries for CV duty purposes on or after June 10, 2014, and for AD duty purposes on or after July 31, 2014. If it completes ongoing antidumping and countervailing duty administrative reviews on solar products from China and Taiwan, then the exemption would apply to unliquidated entries of subject merchandise entered on or after Jan. 1, 2016, for AD duty purposes, and on or after Jan. 1, 2016, for CV duty purposes.
(Federal Register 02/16/17)