91 FR 50515 · published 2026-08-05
· Commerce Department, International Trade Administration
Mirrored from the Federal Register (retrieved 2026-08-08) —
the official copy is at federalregister.gov
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The U.S. Department of Commerce (Commerce) determines that critical circumstances exist, in part, with respect to imports of certain fatty acids (fatty acids) from Indonesia. The period of investigation is January 1, 2025, through December 31, 2025.
[Federal Register Volume 91, Number 149 (Wednesday, August 5, 2026)]
[Notices]
[Pages 50515-50516]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2026-15890]
=======================================================================
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
International Trade Administration
[C-560-849]
Certain Fatty Acids From Indonesia: Preliminary Determination of
Critical Circumstances, in Part, in the Countervailing Duty
Investigation
AGENCY: Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade Administration,
Department of Commerce.
SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of Commerce (Commerce) determines that
critical circumstances exist, in part, with respect to imports of
certain fatty acids (fatty acids) from Indonesia. The period of
investigation is January 1, 2025, through December 31, 2025.
DATES: Applicable August 5, 2026
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jon Hall-Eastman or Sophie Egar, AD/
CVD Operations, Office IV, Enforcement and Compliance, International
Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution
Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-6467 or (202)
482-2697, respectively.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
In response to a countervailing duty (CVD) petition filed by
Vantage Specialty Chemicals, Inc. (the petitioner), Commerce initiated
a CVD investigation of fatty acids from Indonesia on March 9, 2026.\1\
On June 29, 2026, the petitioner timely alleged that critical
circumstances exist with respect to imports of fatty acids from
Indonesia pursuant to section 703(e)(1) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as
amended (the Act), and 19 CFR 351.206.\2\ On July 23, 2026, Commerce
published its affirmative Preliminary Determination in the Federal
Register.\3\
\1\ See Petitioner's Letter, ``Petitions for the Imposition of
Antidumping and Countervailing Duties on Imports of Certain Fatty
Acids from Indonesia and Malaysia,'' dated January 28, 2026
(Petition); see also Certain Fatty Acids From Indonesia and
Malaysia: Initiation of Countervailing Duty Investigations, 91 FR
12342 (March 9, 2026) (Initiation Notice).
\2\ See Petitioner's Letter, ``Critical Circumstances Allegation
and Amendment to Volumes II and IV of the Petitions,'' dated June
29, 2026 (Critical Circumstances Allegation). Because the petitioner
submitted its critical circumstances allegation more than 30 days
before the scheduled date of the final determination, but less than
20 days before the scheduled date of the preliminary determination,
Commerce is issuing this critical circumstances determination within
30 days after the petitioner submitted its critical circumstances
allegation, in accordance with sections 703(e)(1) of the Act and 19
CFR 351.206(c)(1) and (2)(ii).
\3\ See Certain Fatty Acids from Indonesia: Preliminary
Affirmative Countervailing Duty Determination, and Alignment of
Final Determination With Final Antidumping Duty Determination, 91 FR
46409 (July 23, 2026) (Fatty Acids from Indonesia Prelim), and
accompanying Preliminary Decision Memorandum (PDM).
Critical Circumstances Allegation
The petitioner alleges that critical circumstances exist because it
believes that: (1) there is a reasonable basis to believe that the
subsidies alleged in this investigation are inconsistent with the
Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures (SCM Agreement) of
the World Trade Organization; and (2) there have been massive imports
of subject merchandise over a relatively short period given that there
was a 24.30 percent increase of U.S. imports of fatty acids from
Indonesia during the period February 2026 through April 2026 compared
to the period November 2025 through January 2026.\4\
\4\ See Critical Circumstances Allegation at 3, 5, and 8-10 and
Exhibit 1.
Critical Circumstances Analysis
Section 703(e)(1) of the Act provides that if the petitioner
alleges critical circumstances more than 20 days before the date of
Commerce's final CVD determination, Commerce shall determine whether
there is a reasonable basis to believe or suspect that: (A) the alleged
countervailable subsidy is inconsistent with the SCM Agreement; and (B)
there have been massive imports of the subject merchandise over a
relatively short period. In determining whether there are ``massive
imports'' over a ``relatively short period,'' pursuant to section
703(e)(1)(B) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.206(h) and (i), Commerce
normally examines: (i) the volume and value of the imports; (ii)
seasonal trends; and (iii) the share of domestic consumption accounted
for by the imports.\5\ Imports must increase by at least 15 percent
during the relatively short period to be considered massive.\6\
Commerce normally considers the relatively short period to be the
period beginning on the date the proceeding begins and ending at least
three months later. In practice Commerce typically compares the volume
of imports of subject merchandise after the petitioner was filed until
the month of publication of the preliminary determination (i.e., the
comparison period) to the volume of imports of subject merchandise for
a period of comparable duration prior to the filing of the petition
(i.e., the base period). However, if Commerce finds that importers,
exporters or producers, had reason to believe, at some time prior to
the beginning of the proceeding, that a proceeding was likely, Commerce
may consider a period of not less than three months from that earlier
time.\7\
\5\ See 19 CFR 351.206(h)(1).
\6\ See 19 CFR 351.206(h)(2).
\7\ See 19 CFR 351.206(i).
Alleged Countervailable Subsidies Are Inconsistent With the SCM
Agreement
In prior proceedings, Commerce determined that use of an export
subsidy program is sufficient to determine that the countervailable
subsidy is inconsistent with the SCM Agreement under section
703(e)(l)(A) of the Act. In the Preliminary Determination, Commerce
found the following programs to be export-contingent and thus
inconsistent with the SCM Agreement: Exemption from Import Income Tax
Withholding for Companies in Bonded Zones; and Import Duty Exemption on
Imported Capital Goods, Machinery, and Equipment in Bonded Zones.\8\
\8\ See Fatty Acids from Indonesia Prelim PDM at 24-27.
Whether Imports of Subject Merchandise Were Massive Over a Relatively
Short Period
To determine whether imports of the mandatory respondent's subject
merchandise were massive over a relatively short period, we compared
the volume of each mandatory respondent's shipments of subject
merchandise, including shipments of their cross-owned affiliates, from
September 2025 through January 2026 to the volume of their shipments of
subject merchandise from February 2026 through June 2026.\9\ Consistent
with Commerce's practice, because the petitioner filed the petition in
the last half of January 2026, we included shipments during January in
the base period, rather than the comparison period.
\9\ We did not include July 2026 shipment data in our comparison
because the respondents' complete shipment data for July 2026 were
not available at the time that Commerce issued this preliminary
critical circumstances determination.
PT Wilmar Nabati Indonesia and its cross-owned affiliates reported
sales volumes for the base and comparison periods, rather than
reporting the shipment volumes for the period, as requested by
Commerce.\10\ Further, PT Wilmar Nabati Indonesia, during the base and
comparison periods and reported those sales volumes on an inconsistent
basis for the base and
comparison periods.\11\ As a result, we find that PT Wilmar Nabati
Indonesia withheld information requested by Commerce that, in turn,
significantly impeded the proceeding, as provided under section
776(a)(2)(A) and (C) of the Act. Thus, in the absence of the necessary
information, we have relied on facts otherwise available under 776(a)
of the Act to determine whether there were massive shipments by PT
Wilmar Nabati Indonesia massive over a relatively short period of time,
as defined under 19 CFR 351.206(h). Specifically, as facts available
under section 776(a), we have used the sales volumes of in our analysis
for PT Wilmar Nabati Indonesia in our analysis but adjusted those
volumes to account for the inconsistent reporting basis.\12\
\10\ See PT Wilmar Nabati Indonesia's Letters, ``Critical
Circumstances Supplemental Questionnaire Response,'' dated July 24,
2026 and ``Wilmar Monthy {sic{time} Quantity and Value Data.,''
dated July 10, 2026; see also Commerce's Letters, ``Request for
Monthly Quantity and Value Shipment Data,'' dated July 2, 2026 and
``Supplemental Questionnaire Regarding Wilmar's Critical
Circumstances Questionnaire Response,'' dated July 20, 2026.
\11\ See PT Wilmar Nabati Indonesia's Letters, ``Critical
Circumstances Supplemental Questionnaire Response,'' dated July 24,
2026.
\12\ See Memorandum, ``Critical Circumstances Memorandum,''
dated concurrently with this notice (Critical Circumstances
Memorandum); see also PT Wilmar Nabati Indonesia's Letter,
``Critical Circumstances Supplemental Questionnaire Response,''
dated July 24, 2026.
To determine whether imports for all other Indonesian producers of
fatty acids were massive over a relatively short period, we compared
import volumes from the ITC DataWeb for the Harmonized Tariff Schedule
codes listed in the scope for the periods October 2025 through January
2026 and February 2026 through May 2026,\13\ after subtracting the
shipment volumes reported by PT Musim Mas and sales volumes reported by
PT Wilmar Nabati Indonesia (adjusted to account for its inconsistent
reporting basis).\14\
\13\ See Critical Circumstances Memorandum. We only used four
months of data because June 2026 ITC DataWeb data are not available.
\14\ Id.
Based on the comparisons described above, we preliminarily find
that there have been massive imports of the subject merchandise over a
relatively short period (a greater than 15 percent increase in import
volumes) for PT Wilmar Nabati Indonesia and ``All others'' but not for
PT Musim Mas.\15\
\15\ Id.
Preliminary Critical Circumstance Determination
Based on the above analysis, we preliminarily find that critical
circumstances exist for PT Wilmar Nabati Indonesia and ``All others''
because alleged countervailable subsidies are inconsistent with the SCM
Agreement and there were massive imports of the subject merchandise
over a relatively short period for PT Wilmar Nabati Indonesia and ``All
others.'' However, we preliminarily find that critical circumstances do
not exist for PT Musim Mas because both criteria under section
703(e)(1) of the Act have not been met, namely there have not been
massive imports of subject merchandise from PT Musim Mas over a
relatively short period.
Final Critical Circumstances Determination
In accordance with section 705(a)(2) of the Act, Commerce will
issue its final critical circumstances determination when it issues its
final determination in this investigation.
Public Comment
Interested parties may comment on Commerce's preliminary critical
circumstances in their case briefs. Case briefs or other written
comments may be submitted to the Assistant Secretary for Enforcement
and Compliance no later than seven days after the date on which the
last verification report is issued in this investigation. Rebuttal
briefs, limited to issues raised in the case briefs, may be filed not
later than five days after the date for filing case briefs.\16\
Interested parties who submit case briefs or rebuttal briefs in this
proceeding must submit: (1) a table of contents listing each issue; and
(2) a table of authorities.\17\
\16\ See 19 CFR 351.309(d); see also Administrative Protective
Order, Service, and Other Procedures in Antidumping and
Countervailing Duty Proceedings, 88 FR 67069, 67077 (September 29,
2023) (APO and Service Final Rule).
\17\ See 19 CFR 351.309(c)(2) and (d)(2).
As provided under 19 CFR 351.309(c)(2)(iii) and (d)(2)(iii), we
request that interested parties provide at the beginning of their
briefs a public, executive summary for each issue raised in their
briefs.\18\ Further, we request that interested parties limit their
executive summary of each issue to no more than 450 words, not
including citations. We intend to use the executive summaries as the
basis of the comment summaries included in the issues and decision
memorandum that will accompany the final determination in this
investigation. We request that interested parties include footnotes for
relevant citations in the executive summary of each issue. Note that
Commerce has amended certain of its requirements pertaining to the
service of documents in 19 CFR 351.303(f).\19\
\18\ We use the term ``issue'' here to describe an argument that
Commerce would normally address in a comment of the Issues and
Decision Memorandum.
\19\ See APO and Service Final Rule.
Pursuant to 19 CFR 351.310(c), interested parties who wish to
request a hearing, limited to issues raised in the case and rebuttal
briefs, must submit a written request to the Assistant Secretary for
Enforcement and Compliance, U.S. Department of Commerce within 30 days
after the date of publication of this notice. Requests should contain
the party's name, address, and telephone number, the number of
participants, whether any participant is a foreign national, and a list
of the issues to be discussed. If a request for a hearing is made,
Commerce intends to hold the hearing at a time and date to be
determined. Parties should confirm by telephone the date, time, and
location of the hearing two days before the scheduled date.
Suspension of Liquidation
In accordance with section 703(e)(2)(A) of the Act, for PT Wilmar
Nabati Indonesia and ``all-other'' exporters and producers, we intend
to direct U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to suspend
liquidation of any unliquidated entries of subject merchandise from
Indonesia entered, or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption, on or
after April 24, 2026, which is 90 days prior to the date of publication
of the Preliminary Determination in the Federal Register. For such
entries, CBP shall require a cash deposit equal to the estimated
preliminary subsidy rates established in the Preliminary Determination.
This suspension of liquidation will remain in effect until further
notice.
U.S. International Trade Commission Notification
In accordance with section 703(f) of the Act, we intend to notify
the ITC of this preliminary determination of critical circumstances.
Notification to Interested Parties
This determination is issued and published pursuant to sections
703(e) and 777(i) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.205(c).
Dated: July 30, 2026.
Christopher Abbott,
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy and Negotiations, performing the
non-exclusive functions and duties of the Assistant Secretary for
Enforcement and Compliance.
[FR Doc. 2026-15890 Filed 8-4-26; 8:45 am]
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