Update on some deadlines in the US antidumping and countervailing duty investigation of solar panels imported from Vietnam

On May 14, 2024, the US Department of Commerce (DOC) officially initiated an antidumping (AD) and countervailing duty (CVD) investigation of solar panels imported from Malaysia, Cambodia, Thailand and Vietnam.

1. General information about the case

- Case code: A-552-841 (AD) and C-552-842 (CVD).

- Products under investigation: Some solar panel products under HS codes 8501.61.0000, 8507.20.80, 8541.42.0010, and 8541.43.0010.

- Plaintiff: The United States Solar Panel Manufacturers Trade Commission.

- Exporting enterprises accused of dumping and subsidization: The Plaintiff accuses about 50 Vietnamese exporting enterprises of dumping and subsidization.

- Investigation initiation date: May 14, 2024.

- Anti-dumping and anti-subsidy investigation period:

+ Anti-dumping: October 1, 2023 - March 31, 2024;

+ Anti-dumping: January 1 - December 31, 2023.

1.1. Information on alleged dumping

- The alleged antidumping margin for goods exported from Vietnam is 271.28% (the highest among the four accused countries: Cambodia: 125.37%; Malaysia: 81.22%; Thailand: 70.36%).

- Country and surrogate value: Since the United States still considers Vietnam a non-market economy, DOC will use the surrogate values ​​of a third country to calculate the dumping margin for Vietnam (in this case, the Plaintiff proposed Indonesia as the surrogate country).

1.2. Information on alleged subsidy

DOC believes that the Plaintiff's Request has sufficient grounds to initiate an investigation into 31 alleged subsidy programs, including the following groups of programs:

(1) Group of loan programs;

(2) Group of corporate income tax incentive programs;

(3) Group of import tax incentive programs;

(4) Funding program;

(5) Group of land rental incentive programs;

(6) Providing utilities at preferential prices;

(7) Financial support program from the Chinese Government in the One Belt - One Road Initiative and Importing input materials from China at prices lower than normal value.

2. Updates on some investigation deadlines - DOC has issued 02 Questionnaires on Quantity and Value in the CBPG case (the deadline for response is extended until 17:00 US time on June 6, 2024) and the CTC case (the deadline for response is before 17:00 US time on June 4, 2024). Based on the response information combined with data from US Customs, DOC will select mandatory respondents for each case (usually 2-3 enterprises).

These respondents will continue to participate in answering the next questionnaires in the case and participate in the entire process of the case and enjoy separate tax rates. - Enterprises that are not selected as mandatory respondents in the anti-dumping case must answer the Questionnaire on Quantity and Value in the anti-dumping case (by the deadline stated above) and submit a separate anti-dumping duty application (within 30 days from the date of initiation of the case) to receive a separate duty rate. In case the separate anti-dumping duty is not approved, these companies will be subject to the nationwide duty rate determined by DOC.

- Regarding the scope of the investigated products, DOC will consider the opinions of the parties before issuing the preliminary conclusion. In order for DOC to have a basis for developing the investigation questionnaire, DOC has extended the time for parties to submit comments on the product scope before 17:00 US time on June 10, 2024 and rebuttal comments on the product scope before 17:00 US time on June 20, 2024. - Parties have a deadline of 30 days to comment on the country and the surrogate value before DOC issues the preliminary conclusion.

- In case of needing an extension for the above deadlines, companies need to proactively submit an application for an extension and must be approved by DOC. All documents must be submitted on the DOC's Trade Remedies Portal - ACCESS. 3. Some recommendations for response To ensure their legitimate rights, related exporting enterprises need to:

 - Continue to closely monitor the developments of the case; proactively research and master the regulations, procedures, and procedures for anti-dumping and countervailing duty investigations of the United States; diversify export markets and products; - Fully cooperate with the US Investigation Agency throughout the course of the case. Any act of non-cooperation or incomplete cooperation may result in the US Investigation Agency using available evidence to the disadvantage or applying the highest anti-dumping and countervailing duty rates to the enterprise. In the immediate future, it is necessary to pay attention to the timelines in section 2;

 - Actively register for an ACESS account (https://access.trade.gov/login.aspx) to update information and submit documents and materials related to the US Investigation Agency; - Regularly coordinate and update information for the Department of Trade Remedies to receive timely support. For more information, please contact: Foreign Trade Remedies Handling Department, Department of Trade Remedies Handling, Ministry of Industry and Trade, 23 Ngo Quyen, Hoan Kiem, Hanoi (In charge: Nguyen Anh Tho, Phone: 024.7303.7898, Email: thona@moit.gov.vn; ngocny@moit.gov.vn, Website: http://trav.gov.vn

 See related Notices here.