A lot has happened in the past few months to make the solar panel AD & CVD landscape even more convoluted. I’ve created a diagram to help illustrate what I believe to be the current situation regarding AD and CVD duties on solar panels.

There are a couple of flavors of solar panels that may be imported and depending on the details, may be subject to AD and/or CVD.

1.) Solar panels manufactured in China using Chinese solar cells are covered under A-570-979.

2.) Solar panels manufactured in anywhere (including China) using Taiwanese solar cells are covered under A-583-853.

3.) Solar panels manufactured in China using solar cells that have their essential material background in China (example: ingots and / or wafers) fall under a new AD & CVD case (A-570-010 and C-570-010).

4.) Solar panels manufactured in China using solar cells that are completely of origin other than China or Taiwan are currently excluded outside the scope of any of the cases mentioned above. HOWEVER, it is the importer’s responsibility to be able to prove that the solar cells are completely made in a country other than China or Taiwan. Most recently, Customs has begun requesting documents and information such as the following:

– Name and address of the actual manufacturer of the solar panels
– Country of origin of the solar cells
– Production records / bill of materials related to the manufacture of the goods (including solar cells)
– Manufacturer purchase invoices related to the materials incorporated into the goods with particular focus on the cells incorporated into the goods,
– Cell lot number(s)
– Cell manufacturing date
– Plant location of the cells
– Serial numbers for the cells
– Cell specification sheets including cell physical dimension and cell material type
– Purchase orders and contracts
– Certificate of Origin for the solar cells

The AD & CVD landscape may be changing even further as the DOC looks into possibly closing loophole#4 mentioned above.

Feel free to contact me with questions.

-Jimmy Ting

Great World Customs Service

jimmyting@gwlcorp.com
t: 650-873-9050 x1019