Notice2025-23822
Hard Empty Capsules From Brazil: Final Affirmative Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value
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
December 29, 2025
Issuing agencies
Commerce DepartmentInternational Trade Administration
Abstract
The U.S. Department of Commerce (Commerce) determines that hard empty capsules (capsules) from Brazil are being, or are likely to be, sold in the United States at less than fair value (LTFV), as provided in section 735 of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (the Act), for the period of investigation October 1, 2023, through September 30, 2024.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 90 Issue 245 (Monday, December 29, 2025)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 245 (Monday, December 29, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 60610-60612]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2025-23822]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
International Trade Administration
[A-351-864]
Hard Empty Capsules From Brazil: Final Affirmative Determination
of Sales at Less Than Fair Value
AGENCY: Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade Administration,
Department of Commerce.
SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of Commerce (Commerce) determines that
hard empty capsules (capsules) from Brazil are being, or are likely to
be, sold in the United States at less than fair value (LTFV), as
provided in section 735 of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (the
Act), for the period of investigation October 1, 2023, through
September 30, 2024.
DATES: Applicable December 29, 2025.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Gemma Larsen, 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) 482-8125.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
On May 29, 2025, Commerce published in the Federal Register its
preliminary affirmative determination in the LTFV investigation of
capsules from Brazil, in which it also postponed the final
determination until October 14, 2025.\1\ On August 7, 2025, Commerce
issued a post-preliminary analysis memorandum in which it made certain
changes to its differential pricing analysis.\2\ We invited interested
parties to comment on the Preliminary Determination and changes to the
differential pricing analysis.\3\
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\1\ See Hard Empty Capsules from Brazil: Preliminary Affirmative
Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value, Postponement of
Final Determination, and Extension of Provisional Measures, 90 FR
22688 (May 29, 2025) (Preliminary Determination), and accompanying
Preliminary Decision Memorandum.
\2\ See Memorandum, ``Post-Preliminary Analysis for the
Affirmative Preliminary Determination in the Less-Than-Fair-Value
Investigation of Hard Empty Capsules from Brazil,'' dated August 7,
2025.
\3\ See Memorandum, ``Notification of Deadlines for submission
of Case and Rebuttal Briefs,'' dated August 12, 2025.
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Due to the lapse in appropriations and Federal Government shutdown,
on November 14, 2025, Commerce tolled all deadlines in administrative
proceedings by 47 days.\4\ Additionally, due to a backlog of documents
that were electronically filed via Enforcement and Compliance's
Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Centralized Electronic Service
System (ACCESS) during the Federal Government shutdown, on November 24,
2025, Commerce tolled all deadlines in administrative proceedings by an
additional 21 days.\5\ Accordingly, the deadline for this final
determination is now December 18, 2025.
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\4\ See Memorandum, ``Deadlines Affected by the Shutdown of the
Federal Government,'' dated November 14, 2025.
\5\ See Memorandum, ``Tolling of all Case Deadlines,'' dated
November 24, 2025.
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A summary of the events that occurred since the Preliminary
Determination, as well as a full discussion of the issues raised by
parties for this final determination, may be found in the Issues and
Decision Memorandum.\6\ The Issues and Decision Memorandum is a public
document and is on file electronically via ACCESS. ACCESS is available
to registered users at <a href="https://access.trade.gov">https://access.trade.gov</a>. In addition, a
complete version of the Issues and Decision Memorandum can be accessed
directly at <a href="https://access.trade.gov/public/FRNoticesListLayout.aspx">https://access.trade.gov/public/FRNoticesListLayout.aspx</a>.
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\6\ See Memorandum, ``Issues and Decision Memorandum for the
Final Affirmative Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value in
the Investigation of Hard Empty Capsules from Brazil,'' dated
concurrently with, and hereby adopted by, this notice (Issues and
Decision Memorandum).
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Scope of the Investigation
The products covered by this investigation are capsules from
Brazil. For a complete description of the scope of this investigation,
see Appendix I.
Scope Comments
In the Preliminary Scope Memorandum, we set aside a period of time
for parties to raise issues regarding product coverage (i.e., scope) in
scope-specific case briefs or other written comments.\7\ We received
scope case and rebuttal briefs from multiple interested parties. For a
summary of the product coverage comments and rebuttal responses
submitted to the record for this final determination, and accompanying
discussion and analysis of all comments timely received, see the Final
Scope Memorandum.\8\ In the Final Scope Memorandum, Commerce determined
that it is modifying the scope language as it appeared in the
Initiation Notice.\9\ See Appendix I.
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\7\ See Memorandum, ``Less-Than-Fair-Value and Countervailing
Duty Investigations of Hard Empty Capsules from Brazil, the People's
Republic of China, India, and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam:
Scope Comments Decision Memorandum for the Preliminary
Determination,'' dated March 24, 2025 (Preliminary Scope
Memorandum).
\8\ See Memorandum, ``Less-Than-Fair-Value and Countervailing
Duty Investigations of Hard Empty Capsules from Brazil, the People's
Republic of China, India, and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam:
Final Scope Decision Memorandum,'' dated concurrently with this
memorandum (Final Scope Memorandum).
\9\ See Hard Empty Capsules From Brazil, the People's Republic
of China, India, and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam: Initiation
of Less-Than-Fair-Value Investigations, 89 FR 91684 (November 20,
2024) (Initiation Notice).
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Verification
Commerce conducted verification of the information relied upon in
making its final determination in this investigation, in accordance
with section 782(i) of the Act. Specifically, we conducted on-site
verifications of the sales and cost information submitted by ACG do
Brasil S.A. (ACG Brazil), for use in our final determination. We used
standard verification procedures, including an examination of relevant
sales and accounting records, and original source documents provided by
ACG Brazil.
Analysis of Comments Received
All issues raised in the case brief submitted by ACG Brazil in this
investigation are addressed in the Issues and Decision Memorandum. A
list of the issues addressed in the Issues and Decision Memorandum is
attached to this notice as Appendix II.
Changes Since the Preliminary Determination
We made certain changes to the dumping margin calculation for ACG
Brazil since the Preliminary Determination and Post-Preliminary
Analysis. For a discussion of these changes, see the Issues and
Decision Memorandum.
All-Others Rate
Section 735(c)(5)(A) of the Act provides that Commerce shall
determine an estimated all-others rate for all exporters and producers
not individually examined. This rate shall be an amount equal to the
weighted average of the estimated weighted-average dumping margins
established for producers and exporters individually investigated,
excluding any zero and de minimis margins, and any margins determined
entirely under section 776 of the Act.
Commerce calculated an individual estimated weighted-average
dumping margin for ACG Brazil, the only individually examined producer/
exporter in this investigation, that is not zero, de minimis, or based
entirely on facts otherwise available. Therefore, we assigned the
estimated weighted-average dumping margin that we calculated for ACG
Brazil to all other producers and
[[Page 60611]]
exporters, pursuant to section 735(c)(5)(A) of the Act.
Final Determination
Commerce determines that the following estimated weighted-average
dumping margins exist:
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\10\ To determine the cash deposit rate, Commerce normally
adjusts the estimated weighted-average dumping margin by the amount
of export subsidies countervailed in a companion countervailing duty
(CVD) proceeding, when CVD provisional measures are in effect.
Accordingly, where Commerce has made a final affirmative
determination for countervailable export subsidies, Commerce offsets
the estimated weighted-average dumping margin by the appropriate CVD
rate. However, in the final determination of the companion CVD
investigation of capsules from Brazil, we found no export subsidies.
See unpublished Federal Register notice entitled, ``Hard Empty
Capsules from Brazil: Final Affirmative Countervailing Duty
Determination,'' signed and dated concurrently with this Federal
Register notice. Therefore, Commerce has not adjusted the
antidumping duty cash deposit rate for export subsidies in the
companion CVD investigation.
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Weighted-average Cash deposit
Producer/exporter dumping margin rate (percent)
(percent) \10\
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ACG do Brasil S.A.................... 77.63 77.63
All Others........................... 77.63 77.63
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Disclosure
Commerce intends to disclose the calculations and analysis
performed in connection with this final determination to interested
parties within five days of any public announcement or, if there is no
public announcement, within five days of the date of publication of
this notice in the Federal Register, in accordance with 19 CFR
351.224(b).
Suspension of Liquidation
In accordance with section 733(d)(1)(B) of the Act, we instructed
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to suspend liquidation of all
entries of subject merchandise, as described in Appendix I of this
notice, which were entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for
consumption on or after May 29, 2025, the date of publication of the
Preliminary Determination in the Federal Register. In accordance with
section 733(d) of the Act, we instructed CBP to discontinue the
suspension of liquidation of all entries of subject merchandise entered
or withdrawn from warehouse, on or after November 25, 2025, but to
continue the suspension of liquidation of all entries of subject
merchandise on or before November 24, 2025.
If the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) issues a final
affirmative injury determination, we will issue an antidumping duty
order, reinstate the suspension of liquidation under section 736(a) of
the Act, and require a cash deposit of estimated antidumping duties for
such entries of subject merchandise in the amounts indicated above, in
accordance with section 736(a) of the Act. If the ITC determines that
material injury, or threat of material injury, does not exist, then
this proceeding will be terminated, the suspension of liquidation will
be lifted, and all cash deposits for estimated antidumping duties will
be refunded.
ITC Notification
In accordance with section 735(d) of the Act, Commerce will notify
the ITC of its final affirmative determination of sales at LTFV.
Because Commerce's final determination is affirmative, in accordance
with section 735(b)(2) of the Act, the ITC will make its final
determination as to whether the domestic industry in the United States
is materially injured, or threatened with material injury, by reason of
imports, or sales (or the likelihood of sales) for importation, of
capsules no later than 45 days after this final determination. If the
ITC determines that material injury or threat of material injury does
not exist, this proceeding will be terminated, all cash deposits will
be refunded or canceled, and suspension of liquidation will be lifted.
If the ITC determines that such injury does exist, Commerce will issue
an antidumping duty order directing CBP to assess, upon further
instructions by Commerce, antidumping duties on all imports of the
subject merchandise that are entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for
consumption on or after the effective date of the suspension of
liquidation, as discussed above in the ``Suspension of Liquidation''
section.
Administrative Protective Order (APO)
This notice serves as the only reminder to parties subject to an
APO of their responsibility concerning the disposition of proprietary
information disclosed under APO in accordance with 19 CFR
351.305(a)(3). Timely written notification of the return or destruction
of APO materials or conversion to judicial protective order is hereby
requested. Failure to comply with the regulations and terms of an APO
is a sanctionable violation.
Notification To Interested Parties
This final determination is issued and published in accordance with
sections 735(d) and 777(i) of the Act, and 19 CFR 351.210(c).
Dated: December 18, 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.
Appendix I
Scope of the Investigation
The merchandise subject to the scope of the investigation is
hard empty capsules, which are comprised of two prefabricated,
hollowed cylindrical sections (cap and body). The cap and body
pieces each have one closed and rounded end and one open end, and
are constructed with different or equal diameters at their open
ends.
Hard empty capsules are unfilled cylindrical shells composed of
at least 80 percent by weight of a water soluble polymer that is
considered non-toxic and appropriate for human or animal consumption
by the United States Pharmacopeia--National Formulary (USP-NF), Food
Chemical Codex (FCC), or equivalent standards. The most common
polymer materials in hard empty capsules are gelatin derived from
animal collagen (including, but not limited to, pig, cow, or fish
collagen), hydroxypropyl methylcellulose (HPMC), and pullulan.
Hard empty capsules may also contain water and additives, such
as opacifiers, colorants, processing aids, controlled release
agents, plasticizers, and preservatives. Hard empty capsules may
also be imprinted or otherwise decorated with markings.
Hard empty capsules are covered by the scope of the
investigation regardless of polymer material, additives,
transparency, opacity, color, imprinting, or other markings.
Hard empty capsules are also covered by the scope of the
investigation regardless of their size, weight, length, diameter,
thickness, and filling capacity.
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Cap and body pieces of hard empty capsules are covered by the
scope of the investigation regardless of whether they are imported
together or separately, and regardless of whether they are imported
in attached or detached form.
Hard empty capsules covered by the scope of the investigation
are those that disintegrate in water, simulated intestinal fluid,
simulated gastric fluid, or other similar water-based (i.e.,
aqueous) fluids within 2 hours under tests specified in Chapter 701
of the USP-NF, or equivalent disintegration tests.
Hard empty capsules are classifiable under subheadings
9602.00.1040 and 9602.00.5010 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of
the United States (HTSUS). In addition, hard empty capsules may be
imported under HTSUS subheading 1905.90.9090; gelatin hard empty
capsules may be imported under HTSUS subheading 3503.00.5510; HPMC
hard empty capsules may be imported under HTSUS subheading
3923.90.0080; and pullulan hard empty capsules may be imported under
HTSUS subheading 2106.90.9998. Although the HTSUS subheadings are
provided for convenience and customs purposes, the written
description of the merchandise covered by the investigation is
dispositive.
Appendix II
List of Topics Discussed in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum
I. Summary
II. Background
III. Changes since the Preliminary Determination
IV. Discussion of the Issues
Comment 1: Revising the Finance Expense Ratio
Comment 2: Revising the General and Administrative (G&A) Expense
Ratio
V. Recommendation
[FR Doc. 2025-23822 Filed 12-23-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P
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</html>Indexed from Federal Register on December 29, 2025.
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