CBP Finds Solar Cells to be Subject to 201 Tariffs Based on 'Doping' Location

Crystalline silicon photovoltaic cells manufactured in Taiwan and finished in India are considered to be of Taiwan origin and are subject to the Section 201 safeguard measures on solar cells, CBP said in a May 24 ruling. At the time of the ruling (H301813), had the cells been of Indian origin, they would not have been subject to the Section 201 tariffs. As of June 5, though, India is no longer exempt from the safeguards because it was removed from eligibility as a Generalized System of Preferences beneficiary country (see 1906050043). The ruling was in response to an internal advice request through the Industrial and Manufacturing Materials Center of Excellence and Expertise.

Merlin Solar Technologies buys the CSPV cells, which are produced by another company in Taiwan, CBP said. The cells "already have a positive-negative, or P/N junction, but lack the metallization and conductor patterns that collect and forward the electricity that is generated by the cell," it said. The cells are then shipped to India, where another company "processes the solar cells by attaching Merlin’s proprietary metalized grid to the front of the solar cell and a copper mesh to the back." Merlin requested whether CBP considers the cells to be a product of India or Taiwan.

CBP said the processing in Taiwan includes a critical feature of a functioning solar cell. There, the "solar cells have already undergone the substantial processing prior to being shipped to India, including the process known as 'doping,' in which phosphorous is diffused into a thin layer of the wafer surface to create a negatively charged phosphosilicate layer terminating in a positive-negative, or P/N junction," the agency said. While the processing in India "allows the solar cell to collect and forward the electricity," that doesn't result in a new article "since the end-use of the solar cells is pre-determined when these cells leave Taiwan," it said. As a result, the cells are a product of Taiwan and not India.