DoC: Chinese solar cell companies use four countries to evade US anti-dumping duties

WASHINGTON, Dec 2 (KUNA) -- The Department of Commerce announced Friday its preliminary determinations in "the circumvention inquiries of solar cells and modules" from China. The Commerce said in a statement it "examined a complaint alleging that eight solar companies that manufacture solar cells and modules are manufactured the components in the PRC (People's Republic of China) then sending those cells and modules to Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand and/or Vietnam for minor processing before being exported to the United States." It added that "such actions amount to an effort to evade the existing antidumping duty (AD) and countervailing duty (CVD) orders on solar cells and modules" from China.
"Today's preliminary determination underscores Commerce's commitment to holding the PRC accountable for its trade distorting actions, which undermine American industries," it stressed.
"After a thorough, transparent and data-driven investigation of eight companies across the four countries, Commerce preliminarily found that four of the eight companies being investigated are attempting to bypass US duties by doing minor processing in one of the Southeast Asian countries before shipping to the United States," the statement revealed.
The statement said that "because Commerce preliminarily found that circumvention was occurring through each of the four Southeast Asian countries, Commerce is making a "country-wide" circumvention finding, which simply designates the country as one through which solar cells and modules are being circumvented from the PRC." It added "this does not constitute a ban on imports from those countries." (end) si.ibi