China PV in the United States

China's photovoltaic industry in the United States in the past two years can be described as blocked. The U.S. Department of Commerce announced the "double reverse" punitive tariff preliminary tariff rate on China's solar PV export products. At that time, "the use of batteries outside China's mainland to produce battery panels" was not within the scope of the taxation. On October 10th, the US Department of Commerce will announce the final ruling rate, and the industry estimates that it will not rule out the loophole of “blocking” the Ministry of Commerce. For Hebei photovoltaic giants, this means that there is a less roundabout option. In addition, there is a possibility that the US anti-subsidy tax will be raised.

The anti-dumping and countervailing penalties imposed by the U.S. Department of Commerce in March have reached 35% for most Chinese PV companies.

The above-mentioned “dual” tariffs were levied on the 90-day retrospective basis. Hebei photovoltaic giants such as Baoding Yingli and Ningjin Jing’ao have already lost hundreds of millions of yuan for this, and their operating losses have further expanded.

However, 35% of the "double reverse" preliminary tariffs are not stagnated. According to the procedure, the U.S. Department of Commerce will make a final decision today.

With regard to the "double reverse" initial discretionary tax rate, the political circles of the United States political community have subsequently expressed controversy. The reporter noted that at the end of June, the US Department of Commerce spokesman Tim. Truman told U.S. media that during the investigation, the Ministry of Commerce found that Chinese PV companies also received other government subsidy programs, and the Ministry of Commerce will revise the preliminary subsidy tax rate.

According to an internal document of the US Department of Commerce on June 22, the countervailing duty of Wuxi Suntech Power will increase from 2.9% to 3.44%, and Changzhou Trina Solar will increase from 4.73% to 5.81%, due to other Chinese PV exports. The anti-subsidy tax faced by the business is calculated based on the average values ​​of Suntech and Trina Solar. As a result, Hebei PV companies such as Yingli and Jingao will also face higher countervailing duties.

After the U.S. Department of Commerce announced in March the "double reverse" preliminary ruling, Chinese industry people soon discovered that a "loophole" and "double reverse" penalty tariff is not applicable to solar panels produced in mainland China outside China's mainland. This means that Chinese companies can set up factories abroad to produce batteries, or purchase foreign batteries, and then use labor cost advantages in mainland China to weld and assemble solar panels.

It can be noted that some high-level photovoltaic companies in China have indicated to the media that they will use this article to seek to reduce the loss of export profits caused by the US “double reverse”.

However, this "loophole" quickly attracted the attention of the U.S. solar industry and members of the National Assembly. At the end of September, eight U.S. congressmen imposed pressure on the Obama administration to block the "double reverse" loophole in China's PV, that is, to impose tax on solar panels produced by Chinese companies using foreign batteries.

It is worth mentioning that the U.S. leaders who pressure the Obama administration are Luo. Wade and Jeff. Murkie, both from Oregon. And it was the German solar giant Solarworld’s US subsidiary in Oregon that provoked a “double counter” investigation of China’s photovoltaic exports to China.

In the face of pressure from lawmakers, U.S. Department of Commerce officials said that they will consider "loopholes" in the announcement of final taxation rates.

After the U.S. Department of Commerce announced the final arbitration rate, the U.S. International Trade Commission will eventually decide whether or not to impose "double reverse" tariffs based on the findings of "Does Chinese PV exports damage the U.S. industry?" The agency has not announced the date of the poll but it is expected to be in November.

The U.S. International Trade Commission has already begun to convene American photovoltaic companies and launch a "damage" investigation.

If the U.S. International Trade Commission finally decides that China's photovoltaic exports have not harmed the U.S. photovoltaic industry, the "double anti-tariff" tariff will be abolished, and the punitive tariffs previously levied by Chinese enterprises will be refunded.