Solar IV: why cash deposits are not the final duty

A retrospective system

Commerce's regulation at 19 CFR 351.212 puts it plainly: the United States uses a "retrospective" assessment system "under which final liability for antidumping and countervailing duties is determined after merchandise is imported." The cash deposit paid at entry is a placeholder. The entry stays unliquidated until Commerce tells CBP what to assess.

The CVD orders (91 FR 70843) and the AD orders (91 FR 70862) appear in the Federal Register issue dated November 9, 2026. Both say CBP will assess duties "upon further instructions by Commerce", and both describe November as the order's "anniversary month", the month the order was published. The rates and gaps are in our note on the orders.

The annual review

Under 19 CFR 351.213, each year during the anniversary month a domestic interested party may ask Commerce to review named exporters or producers. An exporter or producer may ask for a review of itself, and "an importer of the merchandise may request" a review of an exporter or producer whose goods it imported.

If nobody asks, nothing is recalculated. Section 351.212(c) says Commerce will then instruct CBP to assess duties "at rates equal to the cash deposit" required at the time of entry. In that case the deposit becomes the final duty.

If a review is requested, Commerce calculates new rates and CBP assesses them on the entries in the review period. The difference is then collected or refunded, and 351.212(e) provides for interest on over- and underpayments for entries made on or after the order was published.

What the first review covers

For requests made in the first anniversary month, 351.213(e) sets the period. For AD it runs from the date liquidation was first suspended "to the end of the month immediately preceding the first anniversary month". For CVD it runs to the end of the most recently completed calendar year.

The AD orders count from April 28, 2026, the date the AD preliminary determinations were published; the CVD orders count from February 26, 2026, or November 28, 2025 for Indonesia, where retroactive duties apply. Our reading of the rules: the first requests come in November 2027, the first AD review covers entries from April 28, 2026 to October 31, 2027, and the first CVD review covers entries from February 26, 2026 to December 31, 2026, excluding the gap periods the orders describe.

How long it takes

Section 351.213(h) gives Commerce 245 days after the end of the anniversary month for preliminary results and 120 days after that for final results, extendable to 365 and 180 days. By our arithmetic, for a November 2027 request that means preliminary results around August 1, 2028 and final results around November 29, 2028, or later if extended. Entries made now may take two years or more to settle.

The deposit cap on earlier entries

Under 351.212(d), for entries made before the ITC's final injury notice was published on November 5, 2026, if the final duty is higher than the provisional rate, CBP disregards the difference; if it is lower, the lower rate applies.

What it means if you are buying modules

• The deposit is not the last word. On covered entries made from November 5, 2026, the final duty can be higher or lower than the deposit, years later.
• Know who the importer of record is. That party pays the deposit, can request a review, and carries the final bill.
• Put it in the contract. If you import, agree with your supplier who bears any increase and who keeps any refund.
• Landed stock changes who holds the risk. If you buy modules already in a U.S. warehouse from a seller that imported them, you are not the importer of record on those entries. Ask for cell origin and entry date anyway, and check what your contract says about later duty changes.