Commercial Information Circulars

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Ref : EIC 230/2/3/2/13

15 February 2016

Dear Sirs,

Commercial Information Circular No. 175/2016

European Union (EU)* : Extension of the definitive countervailing duty imposed on imports of crystalline silicon photovoltaic modules or panels and cells (which have a thickness not exceeding 400 micrometres) of the type used in crystalline silicon photovoltaic modules or panels originating in or consigned from the Mainland of China to imports of the same product consigned from Malaysia and Taiwan, whether declared as originating in Malaysia and in Taiwan or not

Further to Commercial Information Circular No. 439/2015 of 1 June 2015, the European Commission (the Commission) has published an implementing regulation to extend the definitive countervailing duty imposed on imports of crystalline silicon photovoltaic modules or panels and cells (which have a thickness not exceeding 400 micrometres) of the type used in crystalline silicon photovoltaic modules or panels ('solar cells and modules' hereafter) originating in or consigned from the Mainland of China to imports of solar cells and modules consigned from Malaysia and Taiwan, whether declared as originating in Malaysia and in Taiwan or not. The regulation can be accessed through the following link:
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:32016R0184&from=EN

DETAILS

2.The definitive countervailing duty is extended to-

Solar cells and modules consigned from Malaysia and Taiwan, whether declared as originating in Malaysia and Taiwan or not, currently falling within CN codes ex 85013100, ex 85013200, ex 85013300, ex 85013400, ex 85016120, ex 85016180, ex 85016200, ex 85016300, ex 85016400 and ex 85414090 (TARIC codes 8501310082, 8501310083, 8501320042, 8501320043, 8501330062, 8501330063, 8501340042, 8501340043, 8501612042, 8501612043, 8501618042, 8501618043, 8501620062, 8501620063, 8501630042, 8501630043, 8501640042, 8501640043, 8541409022, 8541409023, 8541409032, 8541409033) with the exception of solar cells and modules produced by companies specified in the regulation;

The following product types are excluded from the meaning of 'solar cells and modules':

solar chargers that consist of less than six cells, are portable and supply electricity to devices or charge batteries,
thin film photovoltaic products,
crystalline silicon photovoltaic products that are permanently integrated into electrical goods, where the function of the electrical goods is other than power generation, and where these electrical goods consume the electricity generated by the integrated crystalline silicon photovoltaic cell(s),
modules or panels with a output voltage not exceeding 50 V DC and a power output not exceeding 50 W solely for direct use as battery chargers in systems with the same voltage and power characteristics.

3.Imports from companies which do not circumvent the countervailing measures may be exempted from the duty extended by the regulation. Requests for exemption shall be made in writing in one of the official languages of the EU, including English, and must be signed by a person authorised to represent the applicant. The request must be sent to the following address:

European Commission
Directorate-General for Trade
Directorate H
Office: CHAR 04/39
1049 Brussels
Belgium

4.With the extension of the countervailing duty, the registration of imports established in accordance with the Commission's regulation of May 2015 was discontinued.

BACKGROUND

5.Definitive anti-dumping duty on imports of the product has been imposed since 6 December 2013 and the duty in force is 53.4% of the net, free-at-Union-frontier price before duty (except for a number of companies with individual duty rates from 27.3% to 64.9%). Apart from the definitive anti-dumping duty, the Council has also imposed a definitive countervailing duty on imports of the product since 6 December 2013 and the duty in force is 11.5% of the net, free-at-Union-frontier price before duty (except for a number of companies with individual duty rates from 0.0% to 11.5%).

6.The Commission also accepted an undertaking offered by a group of cooperating exporting producers in the Mainland of China, including their related companies in the Mainland of China and in the EU, and together with the China Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export of Machinery and Electronic Products, in connection with the anti-dumping and anti-subsidy proceedings concerning imports of the product originating in or consigned from the Mainland of China.

OTHER INFORMATION

7.Separately, the Commission has initiated a partial interim review and expiry review of the anti-dumping and countervailing measures in December 2015. Moreover, the Commission has extended the anti-dumping measures to the same products consigned from Malaysia and Taiwan, whether declared as originating in Malaysia and in Taiwan or not in February 2016. For details, please refer to Commercial Information Circulars Nos. 1163/2015, 1164/2015, 1167/2015 of 8 December 2015 and 174/2016 of February 2016.

ENQUIRIES

8.For enquiries concerning the contents of this circular, please contact the undersigned at telephone number 2398 5684.

Yours faithfully,

(Miss Jessica MAK)
for Director-General of Trade and Industry

* The EU member countries are Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom.