Notice2025-18231
Certain Monomers and Oligomers From Taiwan: Preliminary Affirmative Critical Circumstances Determination in Countervailing Duty Investigation
Primary source
Metadata and text below are from the Federal Register, a public-domain U.S. government work. Always verify the official published version before relying on it for any legal matter.
Published
September 22, 2025
Issuing agencies
Commerce DepartmentInternational Trade Administration
Abstract
The U.S. Department of Commerce (Commerce) preliminarily determines that critical circumstances exist with respect to imports of certain monomers and oligomers (monomers and oligomers) from Taiwan. The period of investigation is January 1, 2024, through December 31, 2024. Interested parties are invited to comment on this preliminary determination of critical circumstances.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 90 Issue 181 (Monday, September 22, 2025)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 181 (Monday, September 22, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 45370-45372]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2025-18231]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
International Trade Administration
[C-583-880]
Certain Monomers and Oligomers From Taiwan: Preliminary
Affirmative Critical Circumstances Determination in Countervailing Duty
Investigation
AGENCY: Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade Administration,
Department of Commerce.
SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of Commerce (Commerce) preliminarily
determines that critical circumstances exist with respect to imports of
certain monomers and oligomers (monomers and oligomers) from Taiwan.
The period of investigation is January 1, 2024, through December 31,
2024. Interested parties are invited to comment on this preliminary
determination of critical circumstances.
DATES: Applicable September 22, 2025.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Suresh Maniam, AD/CVD Operations,
Office I, Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade
Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue
NW, Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-0176.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
On April 23, 2025, Commerce published the notice of initiation of
this countervailing duty (CVD) investigation in the Federal
Register.\1\ On August 29, 2025, Commerce published its Preliminary
Determination.\2\ In the Preliminary Determination, Commerce applied
adverse facts available (AFA) to Eternal Materials Co., Ltd. (Eternal
Materials), Qualipoly Chemical Corporation (Qualipoly), the two
mandatory respondents, and the Taiwan Authority (TA).\3\
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\1\ See Certain Monomers and Oligomers from Taiwan: Initiation
of Countervailing Duty Investigation, 90 FR 17032 (April 23, 2025)
(Initiation Notice).
\2\ See Certain Monomers and Oligomers from Taiwan: Preliminary
Affirmative Countervailing Duty Determination, 90 FR 42184 (August
29, 2025) (Preliminary Determination), and accompanying Preliminary
Decision Memorandum (PDM).
\3\ See Preliminary Determination PDM at 19-37.
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On August 18, 2025, Arkema Inc. (the petitioner) filed a timely
critical circumstances allegation, pursuant to section 703(e)(1) of the
Act, and 19 CFR 351.206, alleging that critical circumstances exist
with respect to monomers and oligomers from Taiwan.\4\ However, given
the timing of the
[[Page 45371]]
allegation, Commerce did not address the critical circumstances
allegation in the Preliminary Determination.
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\4\ See Petitioner's Letter, ``Allegation of Critical
Circumstances,'' dated August 18, 2025 (Petitioner's Allegation).
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In accordance with sections 703(e)(1) of the Act and 19 CFR
351.206(c)(1), because the petitioner submitted the critical
circumstances allegation more than 30 days before the scheduled date of
the final determination, Commerce will make a preliminary finding as to
whether there is a reasonable basis to believe or suspect that critical
circumstances exist. Commerce is issuing its preliminary finding of
critical circumstances within 30 days after the petitioner submitted
the allegation as the allegation was submitted later than 20 days
before the scheduled date of the preliminary determination.\5\
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\5\ See 19 CFR 351.206(c)(2)(ii).
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Critical Circumstances Allegation
The petitioner alleges that there was a massive increase in imports
of monomers and oligomers from Taiwan and provided monthly import data
for the period January 2025 through June 2025.\6\ The petitioner states
that a comparison of total imports, by quantity, for the base period of
January 2025 through March 2025 to the comparison period of April 2025
through June 2025, shows that imports from Taiwan increased 38 percent,
which is considered ``massive'' under 19 CFR 351.206(h)(2) and section
703(e)(1)(b) of the Act.\7\ The petitioner also alleges that there is a
reasonable basis to believe that there are subsidies in this
investigation which are inconsistent with the Subsidies and
Countervailing Measures (SCM Agreement) of the World Trade Organization
Agreement.\8\
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\6\ See Petitioner's Allegation at 3-5.
\7\ Id.
\8\ Id.
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Critical Circumstances Analysis
Section 703(e)(1) of the Act provides that Commerce will
preliminarily determine that critical circumstances exist in a CVD
investigation if there is a reasonable basis to believe or suspect
that: (A) the alleged countervailable subsidy is inconsistent with the
SCM Agreement; \9\ and (B) there have been massive imports of the
subject merchandise over a relatively short period.
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\9\ Commerce limits its critical circumstances findings to those
subsidies contingent upon export performance or use of domestic over
imported goods (i.e., those prohibited under Article 3 of the SCM
Agreement). See, e.g., Final Affirmative Countervailing Duty
Determination and Final Negative Critical Circumstances
Determination: Carbon and Certain Alloy Steel Wire from Germany, 67
FR 55808, 55809-10 (August 30, 2002).
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In determining whether ``massive imports'' occurred 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 compares the
import volumes of the subject merchandise for at least three months
immediately preceding the filing of the petition (i.e., the base
period) to a comparable period of at least three months following the
filing of the petition (i.e., the comparison period). However, the
regulations also provide that if Commerce finds that importers, or
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 the earlier
time.\10\ Imports normally will be considered massive when imports
during the comparison period have increased by 15 percent or more
compared to imports during the base period.\11\
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\10\ See 19 CFR 351.206(i).
\11\ See 19 CFR 351.206(h)(2).
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Alleged Countervailable Subsidies Are Inconsistent With the SCM
Agreement
Commerce considered the evidence on the record that certain
programs are inconsistent with the SCM Agreement because they are
contingent upon export performance. Based on information on the record,
we preliminarily find a reasonable basis to believe or suspect that
Eternal Materials, Qualipoly, and all other producers and/or exporters
received countervailable subsidies inconsistent with the SCM Agreement
under section 703(e)(1)(A) of the Act. Such programs include: Eximbank
Medium- and Long-Term Export Credit; Eximbank Medium- and Long-Term
Import Credit; Eximbank Overseas Investment Credit; Eximbank Short-Term
Export Credit; Eximbank General Export Credit; Eximbank Export Credit
Guarantee; Eximbank Import Credit Guarantee; Preferential Loans from
Chinese State-Owned Banks; Export Seller's Credit; Export Buyer's
Credit; Export Credit Guarantees; and Foreign Trade Development
Grants.\12\ Thus, because there is a reasonable basis to believe or
suspect these programs are inconsistent with the SCM Agreement, we
preliminarily find that the criterion under section 703(e)(1)(A) of the
Act has been met.
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\12\ See Petitioner's Letter, ``Petition for the Imposition of
Antidumping and Countervailing Duties on Imports of Certain Monomers
and Oligomers from the Republic of Korea and Taiwan,'' dated March
27, 2025 (Petition), at Volumes I and III; see also Checklist,
``Certain Monomers and Oligomers from Taiwan,'' dated April 16, 2025
(Initiation Checklist).
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Massive Imports
As explained in the Preliminary Determination, Eternal Materials
and Qualipoly did not cooperate in this investigation, and we
preliminarily applied total adverse facts available under sections
776(a) and (b) of the Act. Therefore, in accordance with sections
776(a) and (b) of the Act, we preliminarily find that critical
circumstances exist with respect to imports of monomers and oligomers
from Taiwan for Eternal Materials and Qualipoly under section 703(e)(1)
of the Act.
For all other producers and/or exporters, to determine their total
volume of shipments, Commerce's normal practice is to subtract
shipments reported by the cooperating mandatory respondents from the
total shipment data of subject merchandise. However, as stated above,
there are no cooperative respondents under investigation. Therefore,
for all other exporters and/or producers, we compared the monthly
shipment data using import data from Trade Data Monitor (TDM) for a
base and a comparison period, consistent with the data source used in
the companion AD Preliminary Determination.\13\
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\13\ See Certain Monomers and Oligomers from Taiwan: Preliminary
Affirmative Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value and
Preliminary Affirmative Determination of Critical Circumstances, 90
FR 43409 (September 9, 2025) (AD Preliminary Determination), and
accompanying PDM at 12.
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When determining whether massive shipments occurred within the
meaning of 19 CFR 351.206(h), Commerce's practice is to include the
month the petition was filed in the base period if the petition was
filed during the last half of the month.\14\ Further, when provisional
measures have been applied, Commerce's practice is to use the longest
period for which information is available through the month in which
provisional measures were applied or the month prior to provisional
measures being applied if the preliminary determination published in
the first half of the month.\15\ The Petition was filed during
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the second half of March 2025, and the Preliminary Determination
published during the second half of August 2025 (i.e., the month in
which provisional measures were applied). Thus, to determine whether
there was a massive surge in imports, and because August 2025 import
data was not yet available, Commerce used the longest period for which
total import volume information was available up until provisional
measures were imposed, i.e., the four-month base period of December
2024 through March 2025 and a four-month comparison period of April
2025 through July 2025.\16\ The quantity of shipments reported in the
TDM data for the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States
(HTSUS) numbers codes 2916125050, 2916142050, 3824992900, 3907290000,
3907300000, 2916.12.1000 and 3824.99.9397 during the comparison period
exceeded the quantity of shipments reported for the base period by
greater than 15 percent.\17\ Therefore, we determine that the record
supports a determination that there is a massive surge in imports
between the base and comparison periods for all other exporters and
producers of monomers and oligomers from Taiwan.\18\
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\14\ See, e.g., Circular Welded Carbon Quality Steel Pipe from
the People's Republic of China: Final Affirmative Countervailing
Duty Determination and Final Affirmative Determination of Critical
Circumstances, 73 FR 31966 (June 5, 2008), and accompanying Issues
and Decision Memorandum (IDM) at 91-92; see also Overhead Door
Counterbalance Torsion Springs from India: Preliminary Affirmative
Determination of Critical Circumstances in the Countervailing Duty
Investigation, 90 FR 35660, 61 (July 29, 2025).
\15\ See, e.g., Certain Quartz Surface Products from the
Republic of Turkey: Final Affirmative Countervailing Duty
Determination and Final Affirmative Determination of Critical
Circumstances, In Part, 85 FR 25400 (May 1, 2020) and accompanying
IDM at 2-3.
\16\ See Memorandum, ``Preliminary Critical Circumstances
Analysis,'' dated concurrently with this notice, at Attachment.
\17\ Id.
\18\ Id.
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Final Determination
We will make a final determination concerning critical
circumstances in the final determination of this investigation, which
is currently scheduled for November 10, 2025.
Public Comment
Currently, case briefs regarding the Preliminary Determination are
due no later than September 18, 2025. Therefore, Commerce is setting a
separate briefing schedule for comments regarding this preliminary
determination of affirmative critical circumstances. Case briefs or
other written comments limited to Commerce's preliminary determination
of critical circumstances may be submitted to the Assistant Secretary
for Enforcement and Compliance no later than seven days after the date
on which this notice is published in the Federal Register. 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.\19\
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.\20\
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\19\ 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).
\20\ See 19 CFR 351.309(c)(2) and (d)(2).
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As provided under 19 CFR 351.309(c)(2) and (d)(2), in prior
proceedings we have encouraged interested parties to provide an
executive summary of their brief that should be limited to five pages
total, including footnotes. In this investigation, we instead request
that interested parties provide at the beginning of their briefs a
public, executive summary for each issue raised in their briefs.\21\
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 public 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).\22\
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\21\ We use the term ``issue'' here to describe an argument that
Commerce would normally address in a comment of the Issues and
Decision Memorandum.
\22\ See APO and Service Final Rule.
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Suspension of Liquidation
In accordance with section 703(e)(2)(A) of the Act, for Eternal
Materials, Qualipoly, and all other producers and/or exporters, we
intend to direct U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to suspend
liquidation of any unliquidated entries of subject merchandise from
Taiwan entered, or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption, on or
after May 27, 2025, 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 will notify the
ITC of this preliminary determination of critical circumstances.
Notification to Interested Parties
This determination is issued and published pursuant to sections
703(f) and 777(i) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.206.
Dated: September 16, 2025.
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. 2025-18231 Filed 9-19-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P
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</html>Indexed from Federal Register on September 22, 2025.
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