Solarworld Americas, Inc. v. United States, Yingli Green Energy Holding Co.
910 F.3d 1216
Fed. Cir.2018Background
- SolarWorld challenged Commerce’s final results of the 2014–2015 administrative review of the antidumping duty order on crystalline silicon photovoltaic cells from China, contesting Commerce’s surrogate-value choices for Yingli Energy (a Chinese exporter).
- Commerce treated China as a nonmarket economy and therefore valued factors of production using surrogate values from market-economy countries, selecting Thai HTS Heading 7604 import data for aluminum frames and a world-market polysilicon price ($18.19/kg) for semi-finished polysilicon ingots/blocks.
- Commerce calculated a 0.79% weighted-average dumping margin for Yingli based in part on those surrogate values.
- The U.S. Court of International Trade (CIT) sustained Commerce’s selections; SolarWorld appealed, arguing the surrogate values undervalued Yingli’s inputs and that Commerce misapplied HTS classifications and should have used other record data or constructed values.
- The Federal Circuit reviewed for substantial evidence and statutory compliance and ultimately affirmed the CIT, holding Commerce acted within its broad discretion in choosing the surrogate values and need not follow Customs classification rulings or construct alternative values when adequate public surrogate data existed (or were lacking).
Issues
| Issue | Plaintiff's Argument | Defendant's Argument | Held |
|---|---|---|---|
| Proper surrogate for aluminum frames | SolarWorld: Yingli’s frames are further-processed fabricated articles and thus not covered by Thai HTS 7604; Commerce should have used HTS 7616 or Customs rulings | Government/Commerce: 7604 (aluminum bars/rods/profiles) best matches Yingli’s alloyed non-hollow profiles; HTS 7604 includes worked-after-production profiles and is more specific | Affirmed: Commerce reasonably selected Thai HTS 7604 as best available information; substantial evidence supports that selection |
| Proper surrogate for semi-finished polysilicon ingots/blocks | SolarWorld: World-market virgin polysilicon undervalues purchased semi‑finished ingots/blocks because they include added processing/premiums; Commerce should have constructed a higher value | Government/Commerce: World-market polysilicon price was the only public surrogate on record; Commerce accounted for processing where appropriate and declined to use proprietary respondent prices or construct values absent record support | Affirmed: Commerce’s selection of world-market polysilicon price was supported by substantial evidence and within its discretion |
| Weight of Customs classification rulings | SolarWorld: Customs rulings classifying similar frames under other headings are dispositive and should control Commerce’s choice | Government/Commerce: Customs classifications serve different statutory purposes and are only one piece of evidence; Commerce is not bound by them in surrogate-value selection | Affirmed: Commerce may decline to follow Customs rulings where record support favors a different surrogate and it adequately explains its choice |
Key Cases Cited
- Downhole Pipe & Equip., L.P. v. United States, 776 F.3d 1369 (Fed. Cir.) (Commerce need not perform HTS classification; must choose best available surrogate and explain selection)
- Qingdao Sea–Line Trading Co. v. United States, 766 F.3d 1378 (Fed. Cir.) (Commerce prefers publicly available, product‑specific, contemporaneous surrogate data reflecting broad market averages)
- QVD Food Co. v. United States, 658 F.3d 1318 (Fed. Cir.) (Commerce has broad discretion to determine best available information; burden is on parties to place adequate surrogate data on the record)
- Home Meridian Int’l Inc. v. United States, 772 F.3d 1289 (Fed. Cir.) (surrogate data need not be perfect; must be best available)
- Micron Tech., Inc. v. United States, 117 F.3d 1386 (Fed. Cir.) (selection of methodology to value factors of production lies within Commerce’s discretion)