China Energy Storage Network News: On December 2 local time, the U.S. Department of Commerce issued a preliminary decision on the anti-circumvention investigation of photovoltaic cells and modules. Four Chinese companies including Longi, Trina Solar, Canadian Solar, and BYD , was preliminarily ruled by the bureau to have “anti-circumvention behavior”.

When the market opened on the morning of December 5, Trina Solar once fell by more than 5%, and Longi Green Energy fell by more than 3%. BYD, Trina Solar, LONGi Green Energy and other companies involved quickly responded to the matter, saying that this is only a preliminary ruling, which does not yet have legal effect. At present, the company’s customs clearance is normal and follow-up progress will be followed up.

4 companies were ruled to have “anti-circumvention behavior”

According to the U.S. Department of Commerce website, the anti-circumvention investigation involves eight companies, including BYD Hong Kong and New East Solar in Cambodia; Hanwha and Jinko in Malaysia; and Canadian Solar in Thailand. Canadian Solar and Trina; and Vietnam-based Boviet Solar, a subsidiary of the Boway Group, and Vina Solar Technology, a subsidiary of LONGi Green Energy.

According to the results of the preliminary ruling, four Chinese companies including BYD Hong Kong, Canadian Solar, Trina Solar and Vina Solar Technology were involved in “anti-circumvention behavior”, and the remaining companies, including the Korean company Hanwha and the Chinese company Jinko No “anti-circumvention practices” were found to exist.

“Such actions amount to attempts to evade existing anti-dumping duties (AD) and countervailing duties (CVD) orders imposed on solar cells and modules from China.” The U.S. Department of Commerce also claimed that these actions harmed U.S. industrial sectors. But when it comes to the results of the preliminary ruling, the Bureau emphasized that this does not mean an “import ban”, and the companies concerned still have the opportunity to prove that there is no circumvention.

The U.S. Department of Commerce stated that the U.S. will not take any action against companies under investigation that do not evade AD/CVD orders, as long as their production processes and supply chains remain unchanged. The U.S. Department of Commerce also stated that it will conduct further audit work in the next few months, and the final ruling is tentatively scheduled to be released on May 1, 2023.

Enterprise Response: “There are relevant coping strategies”

As for how to deal with it in the future, relevant persons from the investor relations department of Trina Solar said that the company has relevant coping strategies. According to his introduction, because the company currently has no integrated production capacity in Southeast Asia, all silicon wafers are exported from China (to Southeast Asia), which will result in “anti-circumvention”. After the establishment of its own silicon wafer production capacity in Southeast Asia next year, policy risks in this area can be avoided.

The staff of the Investor Relations Department of “Photovoltaic Mao” LONGi Green Energy also emphasized that the investigation is aimed at the industry, not a few companies. During the two-year exemption period, the company has sufficient means and methods to deal with related issues. The company will also actively cooperate with the investigation of the US Department of Commerce.

In recent years, renewable energy has become an important energy structure reform direction in various countries. Among them, the photovoltaic industry has been favored by various countries due to its unique advantages such as large total amount of development, high safety and reliability, small impact on the environment, and wide application range. dispute. In last year’s annual report, LONGi Green Energy once pointed out “the risk of international trade friction”.

In February 2022, the U.S. government will extend the tariff protection measures (201 measures) for solar cells and modules that are about to expire for 4 years. In March 2022, the U.S. government launched an anti-circumvention investigation on photovoltaic products from Vietnam, Malaysia, Thailand, and Cambodia. The Indian government has also announced a 40% basic tariff on foreign-made solar modules and a 25% basic tariff on batteries from April 2022.

Experts in the industry believe that this kind of international trade friction has caused a certain impact on the development of my country’s photovoltaic industry. Once other countries follow suit, it will aggravate the negative effects of industry development, seriously distort the normal international trade order, and hinder global carbon emissions. Effective promotion of neutralization.

On December 5, in the A-share market, as of the close, Trina Solar fell by 3.92%, Longi Green Energy fell by 3.38%; BYD rose by 0.49%.