Notice2026-02345
Oleoresin Paprika From India: Preliminary Affirmative Countervailing Duty Determination, Preliminary Affirmative Critical Circumstances Determination, In Part, and Alignment of Final Determination With Final Antidumping Duty Determination
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
February 6, 2026
Issuing agencies
Commerce DepartmentInternational Trade Administration
Abstract
The U.S. Department of Commerce (Commerce) preliminarily determines that countervailable subsidies are being provided to producers and exporters of oleoresin paprika from India. The period of investigation is April 1, 2024, through March 31, 2025. Interested parties are invited to comment on this preliminary determination.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 91 Issue 25 (Friday, February 6, 2026)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 91, Number 25 (Friday, February 6, 2026)]
[Notices]
[Pages 5427-5429]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2026-02345]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
International Trade Administration
[C-533-939]
Oleoresin Paprika From India: Preliminary Affirmative
Countervailing Duty Determination, Preliminary Affirmative Critical
Circumstances Determination, In Part, and Alignment of Final
Determination With Final Antidumping Duty Determination
AGENCY: Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade Administration,
Department of Commerce.
SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of Commerce (Commerce) preliminarily
determines that countervailable subsidies are being provided to
producers and exporters of oleoresin paprika from India. The period of
investigation is April 1, 2024, through March 31, 2025. Interested
parties are invited to comment on this preliminary determination.
DATES: Applicable February 6, 2026.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Laura Delgado or Charles Doss, AD/CVD
Operations, Office III, Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade
Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue
NW, Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-1468 or (202) 482-4474,
respectively.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
This preliminary determination is made in accordance with section
703(b) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (the Act). Commerce
published the notice of initiation of this investigation on July 22,
2025.\1\ On September 3, 2025, Commerce postponed the preliminary
determination of this investigation until November 24, 2025.\2\
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\1\ See Oleoresin Paprika from India: Initiation of
Countervailing Duty Investigation, 90 FR 34433 (July 22, 2025)
(Initiation Notice).
\2\ See Oleoresin Paprika from India: Postponement of
Preliminary Determination in the Countervailing Duty Investigation,
90 FR 42564 (September 3, 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.\3\ 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.\4\ Accordingly the revised deadline is now January
29, 2026.
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\3\ See Memorandum, ``Deadlines Affected by the Shutdown of the
Federal Government,'' dated November 14, 2025.
\4\ See Memorandum, ``Tolling of all Case Deadlines,'' dated
November 24, 2025.
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For a complete description of the events that followed the
initiation of this investigation, see the Preliminary Decision
Memorandum.\5\ A list of topics discussed in the Preliminary Decision
Memorandum is included as Appendix II to this notice. The Preliminary
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 Preliminary
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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\5\ See Memorandum, ``Decision Memorandum for the Preliminary
Determination of the Countervailing Duty Investigation of Oleoresin
Paprika from India,'' dated concurrently with, and hereby adopted
by, this notice (Preliminary Decision Memorandum).
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Scope of the Investigation
The product covered by this investigation is oleoresin paprika from
India. For a complete description of the scope of this investigation,
see Appendix I.
Scope Comments
In accordance with the preamble to Commerce's regulations,\6\ the
Initiation Notice set aside a period of time for parties to raise
issues regarding product coverage, (i.e., scope).\7\ No interested
party commented on the scope of the investigation as it appeared in the
Initiation Notice. Accordingly, Commerce is not preliminarily modifying
the scope language as it appeared in the Initiation Notice.
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\6\ See Antidumping Duties; Countervailing Duties, Final Rule,
62 FR 27296, 27323 (May 19, 1997).
\7\ See Initiation Notice.
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[[Page 5428]]
Methodology
Commerce is conducting this investigation in accordance with
section 701 of the Act. For each of the subsidy programs found
countervailable, Commerce preliminarily determines that there is a
subsidy, i.e., a financial contribution by an ``authority'' that gives
rise to a benefit to the recipient, and that the subsidy is
specific.\8\
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\8\ See sections 771(5)(B) and (D) of the Act regarding
financial contribution; section 771(5)(E) of the Act regarding
benefit; and section 771(5A) of the Act regarding specificity.
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Preliminary Affirmative Determination of Critical Circumstances, In
Part
In accordance with section 703(e)(1) of the Act, Commerce
preliminarily determines that critical circumstances exist with respect
to imports of oleoresin paprika from Synthite Industries Pvt. Ltd
(Synthite), but do not exist with respect Mane Kancor Ingredients
Private Limited (Mane Kancor) and all other exporters or producers not
individually examined. For a full description of the methodology and
results of Commerce's analysis, see the Preliminary Decision
Memorandum.
Alignment
As noted in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum, in accordance with
section 705(a)(1) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.210(b)(4), Commerce is
aligning the final countervailing duty (CVD) determination in this
investigation with the final determination in the companion less-than-
fair-value (LTFV) investigation of oleoresin paprika from India based
on a request made by Rezolex, Ltd. Co. (the petitioner).\9\
Consequently, the final CVD determination will be issued on the same
date as the final LTFV determination, which is currently scheduled to
be issued no later than June 15, 2026, unless postponed.
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\9\ See Petitioner's Letter, ``Request for Alignment of the
Countervailing Duty Final Determination with the Companion
Antidumping Duty Final Determination,'' dated January 2, 2026.
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All-Others Rate
Sections 703(d) and 705(c)(5)(A) of the Act provide that in the
preliminary determination, Commerce shall determine an estimated all-
others rate for companies not individually examined. This rate shall be
an amount equal to the weighted average of the estimated subsidy rates
established for those companies individually examined, excluding any
zero and de minimis rates and any rates based entirely under section
776 of the Act.
In this investigation, Commerce calculated individual estimated
countervailable subsidy rates for Mane Kancor and Synthite that are not
zero, de minimis, or based entirely on facts otherwise available.
Commerce calculated the all-others rate using a weighted average of the
individual estimated subsidy rates calculated for the examined
respondents using each company's publicly-ranged values for the
merchandise under consideration.\10\
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\10\ With two respondents under examination, Commerce normally
calculates: (A) a weighted-average of the estimated subsidy rates
calculated for the examined respondents; (B) a simple average of the
estimated subsidy rates calculated for the examined respondents; and
(C) a weighted-average of the estimated subsidy rates calculated for
the examined respondents using each company's publicly-ranged U.S.
sale values for the merchandise under consideration. Commerce then
compares (B) and (C) to (A) and selects the rate closest to (A) as
the most appropriate rate for all other producers and exporters.
See, e.g., Ball Bearings and Parts Thereof from France, Germany,
Italy, Japan, and the United Kingdom: Final Results of Antidumping
Duty Administrative Reviews, Final Results of Changed-Circumstances
Review, and Revocation of an Order in Part, 75 FR 53661, 53662
(September 1, 2010), and accompanying Issues and Decision Memorandum
at Comment 1. As complete publicly ranged sales data were available,
Commerce based the all-others rate on the publicly ranged sales data
of the mandatory respondents. For a complete analysis of the data,
see Memorandum, ``Calculation of Subsidy Rate for All Others,''
dated concurrently.
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Preliminary Determination
Commerce preliminarily determines that the following estimated
countervailable subsidy rates exist:
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Subsidy rate
Company (percent ad
valorem)
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Mane Kancor Ingredients Private Limited................. 18.56
Synthite Industries Pvt. Ltd............................ 25.41
All Others.............................................. 22.95
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Suspension of Liquidation
In accordance with section 703(d)(2) of the Act, Commerce will
direct U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to suspend liquidation
of entries of subject merchandise as described in the scope of the
investigation section entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for
consumption on or after the date of publication of this notice in the
Federal Register. Further, pursuant to section 703(d)(1)(B) of the Act
and 19 CFR 351.107(e), Commerce will instruct CBP to require a cash
deposit equal to the estimated company-specific countervailable subsidy
rate or the estimated all-others rate, as follows: (1) the cash deposit
rate for the respondents listed above will be equal to the company-
specific estimated individual countervailable subsidy rates determined
in this preliminary determination; (2) if both the producer and
exporter of the subject merchandise have company-specific estimated
subsidy rates determined in this preliminary determination, and their
rates differ, then the applicable cash deposit rate will be the higher
of these two rates; (3) if either the producer or the exporter, but not
both, of the subject merchandise have a company-specific estimated
subsidy rate determined in this preliminary determination, the
applicable cash deposit rate will be that company's company-specific
rate; and (4) the cash deposit rate for all other producers and
exporters will be equal to the estimated all-others subsidy rate.
Section 703(e)(2) of the Act provides that, given an affirmative
determination of critical circumstances, any suspension of liquidation
shall apply to unliquidated entries of merchandise entered, or
withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or after the later of: (a)
the date which is 90 days before the date on which the suspension of
liquidation was first ordered; or (b) the date on which notice of
initiation of the investigation was published. Commerce preliminarily
finds that critical circumstances exist for imports of subject
merchandise produced and/or exported by Synthite. In accordance with
section 703(e)(2)(A) of the Act, the suspension of liquidation shall
apply to unliquidated entries of merchandise from the exporters/
producers identified in this paragraph that were entered, or withdrawn
from warehouse, for consumption on or after the date which is 90 days
before the publication of this notice.
Disclosure
Commerce intends to disclose its calculations and analysis
performed to interested parties in this preliminary determination
within five days of its public announcement, or if there is no public
announcement, within five days of the date of this notice in accordance
with 19 CFR 351.224(b).
Consistent with 19 CFR 351.224(e), Commerce will analyze and, if
appropriate, correct any timely allegations of significant ministerial
errors by amending the preliminary determination. However, consistent
with 19 CFR 351.224(d), Commerce will not consider incomplete
allegations that do not address the significance standard under 19 CFR
351.224(g) following the preliminary determination. Instead, Commerce
will address such allegations in the final determination together with
issues raised in the case briefs or other written comments.
[[Page 5429]]
Verification
As provided in section 782(i)(1) of the Act, Commerce intends to
verify the information relied upon in making its final determination.
Public Comment
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.\11\ 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.\12\
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\11\ 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).
\12\ See 19 CFR 351.309(c)(2) and (d)(2)
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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.\13\ 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).\14\
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\13\ We use the term ``issue'' here to describe an argument that
Commerce would normally address in a comment of the Issues and
Decision Memorandum.
\14\ See APO and Service Final Rule.
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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.
U.S. International Trade Commission Notification
In accordance with section 703(f) of the Act, Commerce will notify
the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) of its determination. If
the final determination is affirmative, the ITC will determine before
the later of 120 days after the date of this preliminary determination
or 45 days after the final determination whether imports of oleoresin
paprika from India are materially injuring, or threaten material injury
to, the U.S. industry.
Notification to Interested Parties
This determination is issued and published pursuant to sections
703(f) and 777(i) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.205(c).
Dated: January 29, 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.
Appendix I
Scope of the Investigation
The merchandise covered by the scope of this investigation is
the coloring additive oleoresin paprika. Oleoresin paprika is a
viscous, highly colored liquid in various shades of red or orange
made from the extract of Capsicum peppers. Covered merchandise
includes all oleoresin paprika, regardless of pepper variety, with
an American Spice Trade Association (ASTA) value of at least 500 or
a color unit (CU) value of at least 20,000 as determined by
spectrophotometric measurement. The Chemical Abstracts Service (CAS)
Registry numbers for oleoresin paprika are 68917-78-2 and 84625-29-
6; the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN) number
is 977006-45-3; the Flavoring Extract Manufacturers' Association
(FEMA) number is 2834; and the E number is E160c. Subject oleoresin
paprika may also be referred to by other product names, including,
but not limited to, paprika oleoresin, oleoresin of paprika, paprika
extract, extract of paprika, paprika oil, or paprika essential oil.
Subject oleoresin paprika may be blended with oil or water prior
to importation or may be imported in its crude or unstandardized
form. Subject oleoresin paprika may also be blended with emulsifiers
or preservatives. The scope includes all oleoresin paprika meeting
the specifications above regardless of whether or not blended with
or soluble in oil or water, and regardless of weight, pungency,
quality, solvent content, or additives. Further, the scope includes
crude or unstandardized oleoresin paprika that has been blended,
finished, packaged, or otherwise processed in a third country, if
the blending, finishing, packaging, or processing performed would
not otherwise remove the merchandise from the scope. Oleoresin
paprika that is otherwise subject to this investigation is not
excluded when commingled with oleoresin paprika from sources not
subject to this investigation, or when commingled with other
oleoresins. Only the subject component of such commingled products
is covered by the scope of this investigation.
The merchandise subject to this investigation is classified in
the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS) under
subheadings 3203.00.8000 and 3301.90.1010. Subject merchandise may
also enter under HTSUS subheading 1301.90.9190, 1302.19.9140, and
3205.00.0500. Although the HTSUS subheadings are provided for
convenience and customs purposes, the written description of the
scope of this investigation is dispositive.
Appendix II
List of Topics Discussed in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum
I. Summary
II. Background
III. Injury Test
IV. Diversification of India's Economy
V. Preliminary Affirmative Determination of Critical Circumstances,
in Part
VI. Subsidies Valuation
VII. Benchmarks
VIII. Analysis of Programs
IX. Recommendation
[FR Doc. 2026-02345 Filed 2-5-26; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P
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