Auxin Solar Demands All External White House Communications Over Solar Cell AD/CVD Decision
The Commerce Department should obtain all ex parte communications from the White House involving President Joe Biden's recent decision to temporarily suspend antidumping and countervailing duties on solar cells from four Southeast Asian nations, U.S. solar company Auxin Solar said in a June 9 letter to Commerce. Suspecting that the White House made the decision after consulting with stakeholders, Auxin said that the law requires all ex parte communications to be placed on the record.
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On June 6, Biden announced the 24-month grace period during which solar cells from Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam can be imported free from AD/CV duties (see 2206060036). The move was a shock to trade lawyers, with some saying it introduced a political element to the trade remedy process (see 2206060036).
Auxin asked Commerce to put all the White House's communications with outside parties on the record of all four anti-circumvention inquiries for all four countries. "Here, available information strongly suggests the existence of ex parte contacts involving the Executive Office of the President, the White House, and Commerce that must be documented on the record of these inquiries," the letter said. "... Contemporaneously with the public release of the June 6 Declaration, the Secretary and the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Enforcement and Compliance both released statements indicating their prior knowledge of and participation in the President’s June 6 Declaration."
Auxin noted that a press release from the Solar Energy Industries Association was publicly issued before the June 6 announcement. and that Reuters and The Wall Street Journal had quotes from the press release on the day before the announcement. That would indicate that SEIA or its "Chinese-owned members" met with White House or Commerce staff before the decision was made, the company said.