The U.S. Department of Justice appealed, and the PV 201 tariffs made waves again

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On January 14, the U.S. Department of Justice appealed to the U.S. Court of International Trade for rejecting the Trump administration's ruling on section 201 solar tariffs.

1． The twists and turns of the 201 tariff

Regarding the U.S. imposed Tariffs on 201 tariffs on photovoltaic products, the reason for this is as follows:

In February 2018, former US President Trump decided to impose a 201 tariff on Chinese photovoltaic products. Since then, among the 201 tariff protection exemption products consulted by the US Department of Commerce, the double-sided component has been listed as exempt from the Section 201 tariff protection.

In 2019, the U.S. Department of Commerce withdrew the exemption from Section 201 tariffs on double-sided components issued by some U.S. companies. But since then, under the ruling of the U.S. Court of International Trade, the U.S. Department of Commerce's decision has violated U.S. procedural law, so at the end of 2019, the bifacial component returned to section 201 tariff exemption.

Beginning in 2020, the U.S. Department of Commerce re-initiated an investigation into bifacial components in accordance with the law and decided in April 2020 to withdraw the exemption from Section 201 tariffs on bifacial modules again. But then in May, the U.S. Trade Court announced its rejection of the Commerce Department's decision, and in July of the same year, the Commerce Department said it would no longer insist on withdrawing the waiver decision.

But that doesn't mean the case is over. In October 2020, the U.S. Department of Commerce directly issued the "Presidential Proclamation No. 10101" through former President Trump, announcing the withdrawal of the exemption from section 201 tariffs on double-sided components by presidential decree.

In mid-2021, with the development of high-level dialogues between China and the United States and the progress of trade negotiations, shortly after the video meeting between the heads of state of China and the United States, on November 16, the US Court of International Trade once again ruled that the Presidential Decree No. 10101 of the US Department of Commerce to withdraw the exemption from section 201 tariffs by the US Department of Commerce in 2020 was invalid, and the bifacial module was again exempted from section 201 tariffs.

By the end of 2021, the U.S. International Trade Commission has proposed to the U.S. president the U.S. president to extend the 201 tariffs on photovoltaic cells and modules, which will expire in February 2022, and although double-sided cells and modules have been exempted from the 201 tariffs, other types of cells and modules still face the question of whether the 201 tariffs will be extended.

However, because the double-sided batteries and modules have been ruled by the court to be exempt from the 201 tariffs, the industry has not paid much attention to whether President Biden approves the US International Trade Commission's 201 tariff extension application, because the cost of double-sided batteries and modules is already comparable to the cost of single-sided battery modules and can be completely replaced.

2． The Justice Department appealed, and section 201 tariffs made waves again

I thought that the exemption of bifacial modules from section 201 tariffs ended here, but an appeal filed by the US Department of Justice on January 14 made the PV 201 tariffs wave again.

That is, while the U.S. Trade Court again ruled on Nov. 16 that Trump's Presidential Proclamation No. 10101 was invalid and that the duplex component was again exempt from Section 201 tariffs, the U.S. Department of Justice appealed the ruling, which would face the embarrassment of being retried.

And if it enters the retrial, the retrial judge will inevitably re-examine the twists and turns between the photovoltaic trade war. And in November 2021, the U.S. International Trade Commission (UITC) has determined that tariffs on U.S. industrial production of crystalline silicon photovoltaic cells remain necessary.

In response to the Justice Department's appeal, John Smirnow, general counsel and vice president of market strategy at the Solar Energy Industry Association (SEIA), said, "We are disappointed that the Department of Justice has appealed the court's ruling on international trade. Based on the case's history, continuing this legal battle is yet another failure by the administration in this long and painful saga, with no benefit to American workers, the public, or clean energy goals. ”

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