Crystalline Silicon Photovoltaic Cells, Whether or Not Assembled Into Modules, From the People's Republic of China: Notice of Court Decision Not in Harmony With the Final Results of Countervailing Duty Administrative Review; Notice of Amended Final Results

<NOTICE> DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE <SUBAGY>International Trade Administration</SUBAGY> <DEPDOC>[C-570-980]</DEPDOC> <SUBJECT>Crystalline Silicon Photovoltaic Cells, Whether or Not Assembled Into Modules, From the People's Republic of China: Notice of Court Decision Not in Harmony With the Final Results of Countervailing Duty Administrative Review; Notice of Amended Final Results</SUBJECT> <HD SOURCE="HED">AGENCY:</HD> Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade Administration, Department of Commerce. <SUM> <HD SOURCE="HED">SUMMARY:</HD> On February 29, 2024, the U.S. Court of International Trade (CIT) issued its final judgment in <E T="03">Risen Energy Co</E> . v. <E T="03">United States,</E> Consol. Court no. 22-00231, sustaining the U.S. Department of Commerce's (Commerce) first remand results pertaining to the administrative review of the countervailing duty (CVD) order on crystalline silicon photovoltaic cells, whether or not assembled into modules (solar cells) from the People's Republic of China (China) covering the period January 1, 2019 through, December 31, 2019. Commerce is notifying the public that the CIT's final judgment is not in harmony with Commerce's final results of the administrative review, and that Commerce is amending the final results with respect to the countervailable subsidy rates assigned to JA Solar Technology Yangzhou Co., Ltd. (JA Solar) and Risen Energy Co., Ltd. (Risen). </SUM> <DATES> <HD SOURCE="HED">DATES:</HD> Applicable March 10, 2024. </DATES> <FURINF> <HD SOURCE="HED">FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:</HD> Lingjun Wang, 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) 482-3642. </FURINF> <SUPLINF> <HD SOURCE="HED">SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:</HD>   <HD SOURCE="HD1">Background</HD> On July 7, 2022, Commerce published its final results in the 2019 CVD administrative review of solar cells from China, <SU>1</SU> <FTREF/> in which Commerce: (1) found that JA Solar and Risen used the Export Buyer's Credit program (EBCP);  <SU>2</SU> <FTREF/> (2) determined that the Tax Exemptions Under the Article 26(2) of the Enterprise Income Tax Law Program (Article 26(2) Tax Program) is <E T="03">de jure</E> specific;  <SU>3</SU> <FTREF/> (3) relied on an average of Thai and Malaysian data as a tier three benchmark for the provision of land for less than adequate remuneration (LTAR);  <SU>4</SU> <FTREF/> and (4) relied on an average of Xeneta and Descartes datasets as a tier two benchmark for ocean freight for several LTAR subsidy calculations. <SU>5</SU> <FTREF/> <FTNT> <SU>1</SU>   <E T="03">See Crystalline Silicon Photovoltaic Cells, Whether or Not Assembled into Modules, from the People's Republic of China: Final Results and Partial Rescission of Countervailing Duty Administrative Review; 2019,</E> 87 FR 40491 (July 7, 2022) ( <E T="03">Final Results</E> ), and accompanying Issues and Decision Memorandum (IDM). </FTNT> <FTNT> <SU>2</SU>   <E T="03">Id.</E> at Comment 1. </FTNT> <FTNT> <SU>3</SU>   <E T="03">Id.</E> at Comment 20. </FTNT> <FTNT> <SU>4</SU>   <E T="03">Id.</E> at Comment 17. </FTNT> <FTNT> <SU>5</SU>   <E T="03">Id.</E> at Comment 7. </FTNT> On August 15 and September 12, 2022, Commerce published the <E T="03">Amended Final Results</E>   <SU>6</SU> <FTREF/> and <E T="03">Corrections,</E> respectively, correcting certain ministerial errors and inadvertent errors in the <E T="03">Final Results</E> . <FTNT> <SU>6</SU>   <E T="03">See Crystalline Silicon Photovoltaic Cells, Whether or Not Assembled into Modules, from the People's Republic of China: Notice of Amended Final Results Countervailing Duty Administrative Review; 2019,</E> 87 FR 50069 (August 15, 2022) ( <E T="03">Amended Final Results</E> ). </FTNT> <FTNT> <SU>7</SU>   <E T="03">See Crystalline Silicon Photovoltaic Cells, Whether or Not Assembled into Modules, from the People's Republic of China: Final Results and Partial Rescission of Countervailing Duty Administrative Review; 2019 and Notice of Amended Final Results of Countervailing Duty Review, 2019; Corrections,</E> 87 FR 55782 (September 12, 2022) ( <E T="03">Corrections</E> ). </FTNT> Risen and JA Solar appealed Commerce's <E T="03">Final Results/Amended Final Results</E> . On October 11, 2023, the CIT remanded the <E T="03">Final Results/Amended Final Results</E> to Commerce. <SU>8</SU> <FTREF/> The CIT ordered Commerce to: (1) consider Risen's untimely non-use certification, and to attempt to verify the Risen's and JA Solar's non-use certifications to the extent that verification does not overly burden voluntary participants;  <SU>9</SU> <FTREF/> (2) remove the Article 26(2) Tax Program from its subsidy rate for Risen;  <SU>10</SU> <FTREF/> (3) reconsider Commerce's land for LTAR calculation consistent with the CIT's holdings in <E T="03">Risen II,</E> in which the CIT found that the use of the Thai data is insufficiently explained to meet the substantial evidence standard;  <SU>11</SU> <FTREF/> and (4) reconsider whether it remains appropriate to use Descartes data for purposes of this review. <SU>12</SU> <FTREF/> <FTNT> <SU>8</SU>   <E T="03">See Remand Order,</E> 658 F. Supp. 3d at 1371-79. </FTNT> <FTNT> <SU>9</SU>   <E T="03">Id.,</E> 658 F. Supp. 3d at 1372. </FTNT> <FTNT> <SU>10</SU>   <E T="03">See Remand Order,</E> 658 F. Supp. 3d at 1373. </FTNT> <FTNT> <SU>11</SU>   <E T="03">Id.</E> at 1375 (citing <E T="03">Risen Energy Co.</E> v. <E T="03">United States,</E> Consol. Court No. 20-03912, Slip Op. 23-48 (CIT April 11, 2023) ( <E T="03">Risen II</E> )). </FTNT> <FTNT> <SU>12</SU>   <E T="03">See Remand Order,</E> 658 F. Supp. 3d at 1378. </FTNT> On remand, Commerce requested that Risen submit on the record the non-use certification which was found to be untimely in the underlying review. <SU>13</SU> <FTREF/> Risen complied with Commerce's request. <SU>14</SU> <FTREF/> On December 12, 2023, Commerce issued its Draft Remand Results;  <SU>15</SU> <FTREF/> only JA Solar submitted comments. <SU>16</SU> <FTREF/> <FTNT> <SU>13</SU>   <E T="03">See</E> Commerce's Letter, “Supplemental Questionnaire,” dated November 27, 2023. </FTNT> <FTNT> <SU>14</SU>   <E T="03">See</E> Risen's Letter, “Supplemental Questionnaire Response,” dated November 29, 2023. </FTNT> <FTNT> <SU>15</SU>   <E T="03">See</E> Draft Results of Remand Redetermination Pursuant to Court Remand, <E T="03">Risen Energy Co., Ltd., et al.</E> v. <E T="03">United States,</E> Consol. Court No. 22-00231, Slip Op. 23-148 (CIT October 11, 2023), dated December 12, 2023 (Draft Remand Results). </FTNT> <FTNT> <SU>16</SU>   <E T="03">See</E> JA Solar's Letter, “Comments on Draft Remand Redetermination,” dated December 21, 2023 (JA Solar Comments). </FTNT> In its remand redetermination, issued in January 2024, <SU>17</SU> <FTREF/> for both companies, Commerce: (1) removed the EBCP from its overall subsidy rate calculations; (2) removed Article 26(2) Tax program from its overall subsidy rate calculations; (3) used the Malaysian data as the tier three benchmark for the provision of land for LTAR given it is more contemporaneous to the acquisition years of the land-use rights; and in so doing, did not disturb the benefit streams calculated in the 2017 administrative review and carried forward to this review ( <E T="03">i.e.,</E> 2019 administrative review); and (4) excluded Descartes data and relied solely on Xeneta data as a tier two benchmark for ocean freight. Consequently, Commerce has revised the subsidy benefit calculations for Risen and JA Solar. The CIT sustained Commerce's final redetermination. <SU>18</SU> <FTREF/> <FTNT> <SU>17</SU>   <E T="03">See Final Results of Redetermination Pursuant to Court Remand, Risen Energy Co., Ltd., et al.</E> v. <E T="03">United States,</E> Consolidated Court No. 22-00231, Slip Op. 23-148 (CIT October 11, 2023), dated January 9, 2024 ( <E T="03">Final Remand</E> ), available at <E T="03">https://access.trade.gov/resources/remands/23-148.pdf</E> . </FTNT> <FTNT> <SU>18</SU>   <E T="03">See Risen Energy Co., Ltd., et al.</E> v. <E T="03">United States,</E> Slip Op. 24-25 (CIT 2024). </FTNT> <E T="03">Timken</E> Notice In its decision in <E T="03">Timken,</E> <SU>19</SU> <FTREF/> as clarified by <E T="03">Diamond Sawblades,</E> the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit held that, pursuant to section 516A(c) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (the Act), Commerce must publish a notice of court decision that is not “in harmony” with a Commerce determination and must suspend liquidation of entries pending a “conclusive” court decision. The CIT's February 29, 2024 judgment constitutes a final decision of the Court that is not in harmony with Commerce's <E T="03">Final Results</E> and <E T="03">Amended Final Results</E> . This notice is published in fulfillment of the publication requirements of <E T="03">Timken</E> . <FTNT> <SU>19</SU>   <E T="03">See Timken Co.</E> v. <E T="03">United States,</E> 893 F.2d 337 (Fed. Cir. 1990) ( <E T="03">Timken</E> ). </FTNT> <FTNT> <SU>20</SU>   <E T="03">See Diamond Sawblades Mfrs. Coalition</E> v. <E T="03">United States,</E> 626 F.3d 1374 (Fed. Cir. 2010) ( <E T="03">Diamond Sawblades</E> ). </FTNT> <HD SOURCE="HD1">Amended Final Results</HD> Because there is now a final court decision, Commerce is amending its <E T="03">Final Results</E> and <E T="03">Amended Final Results</E> with respect to Risen and JA Solar as follows: <GPOTABLE COLS="2" OPTS="L2,tp0,i1" CDEF ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ Preview showing 10k of 15k characters. 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