The U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC) has postponed its preliminary determination in the countervailing-duty investigation of Chinese solar products.
The determination, originally scheduled for Jan. 19, had already been postponed to Feb. 13 at the request of SolarWorld (which filed the trade complaint last fall that initiated the investigation). Now, the DOC is expected to announce its ruling by March 19.
The DOC is examining PV product pricing in order to determine whether Chinese modules were sold at "unfairly" low prices (i.e., dumped) and whether producers and exporters have benefited from "unfair" government subsidies.
According to a DOC notice posted by the Solar Energy Industries Association, the department has found that the case is "extraordinarily complicated," thus necessitating the extension. Both the number of companies involved and the "complexity of the alleged countervailable subsidy practices" have exceeded original estimations, the DOC said.
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