Crystalline Silicon Photovoltaic Products, Whether or Not Assembled Into Modules, From the People's Republic of China: Notice of Initiation of Changed Circumstances Reviews, and Consideration of Revocation of the Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Orders, in Part

<NOTICE> DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE <SUBAGY>International Trade Administration</SUBAGY> <DEPDOC>[A-570-010, C-570-011]</DEPDOC> <SUBJECT>Crystalline Silicon Photovoltaic Products, Whether or Not Assembled Into Modules, From the People's Republic of China: Notice of Initiation of Changed Circumstances Reviews, and Consideration of Revocation of the Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Orders, in Part</SUBJECT> <HD SOURCE="HED">AGENCY:</HD> Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade Administration, Department of Commerce. <SUM> <HD SOURCE="HED">SUMMARY:</HD> Based on a request from Lutron Electronics Co., Inc. (Lutron), the U.S. Department of Commerce (Commerce) is initiating changed circumstances reviews (CCRs) to consider the possible revocation, in part, of the antidumping duty (AD) and countervailing duty (CVD) orders on crystalline silicon photovoltaic products (solar products) from the People's Republic of China (China) with respect to certain small, low-wattage, off-grid crystalline silicon photovoltaic (CSPV) cells as described below. </SUM> <DATES> <HD SOURCE="HED">DATES:</HD> Applicable October 21, 2024. </DATES> <FURINF> <HD SOURCE="HED">FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:</HD> Mark Hoadley, 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) 482-3148. </FURINF> <SUPLINF> <HD SOURCE="HED">SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:</HD> <HD SOURCE="HD1">Background</HD> On February 18, 2015, Commerce published the AD and CVD orders on solar products from China. <SU>1</SU> <FTREF/> On August 28, 2024, Lutron, a domestic producer, importer and exporter of subject merchandise, requested, through CCRs, revocation of the <E T="03">Orders,</E> in part, with respect to certain small, low-wattage, off-grid CSPV cells, pursuant to section 751(b)(1) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (the Act), and 19 CFR 351.216(b). <SU>2</SU> <FTREF/> Within its Lutron's CCRs request, Lutron included a letter from the American Alliance for Solar Manufacturing (the Alliance), a domestic interested party in this proceeding, in which the Alliance stated that it did not oppose the partial revocation of the <E T="03">Orders</E> proposed by Lutron. <SU>3</SU> <FTREF/> No interested parties filed comments opposing the CCR request. <FTNT> <SU>1</SU>   <E T="03">See Certain Crystalline Silicon Photovoltaic Products from the People's Republic of China: Antidumping Duty Order; and Amended Final Affirmative Countervailing Duty Determination and Countervailing Duty Order,</E> 80 FR 8592 (February 18, 2015) ( <E T="03">Orders</E> ). </FTNT> <FTNT> <SU>2</SU>   <E T="03">See</E> Lutron's Letter, “Lutron Electronics Co., Inc.'s Request for Changed Circumstances Reviews and Request to Combine Initiation and Preliminary Results,” dated August 28, 2024 (CCR Request). </FTNT> <FTNT> <SU>3</SU>   <E T="03">Id.</E> at Exhibit 2 and 3. </FTNT> <HD SOURCE="HD1">Scope of the Orders</HD> The merchandise covered by these <E T="03">Orders</E> is modules, laminates and/or panels consisting of crystalline silicon photovoltaic cells, whether or not partially or fully assembled into other products, including building integrated materials. For purposes of these <E T="03">Orders,</E> subject merchandise includes modules, laminates and/or panels assembled in China consisting of crystalline silicon photovoltaic cells produced in a customs territory other than China. Subject merchandise includes modules, laminates and/or panels assembled in China consisting of 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. Excluded from the scope of the <E T="03">Orders</E> 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 these <E T="03">Orders</E> are modules, laminates and/or panels assembled in China, consisting of crystalline silicon photovoltaic cells, not exceeding 10,000 mm <SU>2</SU> 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 cells. Where more than one module, laminate and/or panel is permanently integrated into a consumer good, the surface area for purposes of this exclusion shall be the total combined surface area of all modules, laminates and/or panels that are integrated into the consumer good. Further, also excluded from the scope of these <E T="03">Orders</E> are any products covered by the existing antidumping and countervailing duty orders on crystalline silicon photovoltaic cells, whether or not assembled into modules, laminates and/or panels, from China. Additionally, excluded from the scope of these <E T="03">Orders</E> are solar panels that are: (1) less than 300,000 mm <SU>2</SU> 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.” Also excluded from the scope of these <E T="03">Orders</E> are off-grid crystalline silicon photovoltaic panels without a glass cover with the following characteristics: (1) total power output of 500 watts or less per panel; (2) maximum surface area of 8,000 cm <SU>2</SU> per panel; (3) unit does not include a built-in inverter; (4) unit has visible parallel grid collector metallic wire lines every 2-40 millimeters across each solar panel (depending on model); (5) solar cells are encased in laminated frosted PET material without stitching; (6) the panel is encased in polyester fabric with visible stitching which includes a Velcro-type storage pocket and unit closure, or encased within a Neoprene clamshell (depending on model); and (7) includes LED indicator. Additionally excluded from the scope of these <E T="03">Orders</E> 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 <SU>2</SU> 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 8mm diameter male barrel connector. Merchandise covered by these orders is currently classified in the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS) under subheadings 8501.61.0000, 8507.20.8030, 8507.20.8040, 8507.20.8060, 8507.20.8090, 8541.40.6015, 8541.40.6020, 8541.40.6030, 8541.40.6035 and 8501.31.8000. These HTSUS subheadings are provided for convenience and customs purposes; the written description of the scope of these <E T="03">Orders</E> is dispositive. <HD SOURCE="HD1">Proposed Partial Revocation of the Orders</HD> The products subject to the proposed revocation are certain small, low-wattage, off-grid CSPV cells that are permanently attached to an aluminum extrusion that controls natural light, whether or not assembled into a fully completed automation device that controls natural light, Lutron requests that the following language be added to the scope of the <E T="03">Orders</E> to implement the requested exclusion: <EXTRACT> Also excluded from the scope of these investigations are off-grid CSPV panels in rigid form, with or without a glass cover, permanently attached to an aluminum extrusion that is an integral component of an automation device that controls natural light, whether or not assembled into a fully completed automation device that controls natural light, with the following characteristics: 1. A total power output of 20 watts or less per panel; 2. A maximum surface area of 1,000 cm <SU>2</SU> per panel; 3. (C) Does not include a built-in inverter for powering third party devices. <SU>4</SU> <FTREF/> <FTNT> <SU>4</SU>   <E T="03">See</E> CCR Request at 3. </FTNT> </EXTRACT> <HD SOURCE="HD1">Initiation of CCRs and Consideration of Revocation of the Orders, in Part</HD> Pursuant to section 751(b)(1) of the Act, when Commerce receives information concerning, or a request from an interested party  <SU>5</SU> <FTREF/> for a review of, a final affirmative determination that resulted in an AD or CVD order, which shows changed circumstances sufficient to warrant a review of an order, Commerce shall conduct a CCR of the order. <SU>6</SU> <FTREF/> In accordance with 19 CFR 351.216(d), Commerce determines that the information submitted by Lutron and the letter of no opposition to partial revocation of the <E T="03">Orders</E> with respect to the products described by Lutron constitute a sufficient basis to conduc ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ Preview showing 10k of 15k characters. 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