Notice2026-02999
Active Anode Material From the People's Republic of China: Final Affirmative Countervailing 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 17, 2026
Issuing agencies
Commerce DepartmentInternational Trade Administration
Abstract
The U.S. Department of Commerce (Commerce) determines that countervailable subsidies are being provided to producers and exporters of active anode material from the People's Republic of China (China). The period of investigation (POI) is January 1, 2023, through December 31, 2023.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 91 Issue 31 (Tuesday, February 17, 2026)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 91, Number 31 (Tuesday, February 17, 2026)]
[Notices]
[Pages 7261-7263]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2026-02999]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
International Trade Administration
[C-570-195]
Active Anode Material From the People's Republic of China: Final
Affirmative Countervailing Duty Determination
AGENCY: Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade Administration,
Department of Commerce.
SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of Commerce (Commerce) determines that
countervailable subsidies are being provided to producers and exporters
of active anode material from the People's Republic of China (China).
The period of investigation (POI) is January 1, 2023, through December
31, 2023.
DATES: Applicable February 17, 2026.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Benjamin Nathan or Gorden Struck, AD/
CVD Operations, Office II, Enforcement and Compliance, International
Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution
Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-3834 or (202)
482-8151, respectively.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
On May 28, 2025, Commerce published the Preliminary Determination
in the Federal Register.\1\ In the Preliminary Determination, and in
accordance with section 705(a)(1) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended
(the Act), and 19 CFR 351.210(b)(4), Commerce aligned the final
countervailing duty (CVD) determination with the final less-than-fair
value (LTFV) determination.\2\ Commerce invited parties to comment on
the Preliminary Determination.\3\ On July 2, 2025, Commerce published
an amended preliminary determination to correct ministerial errors in
the Preliminary Determination with respect to the subsidy rates
calculated for Panasonic Global Procurement (China) Co., Ltd., and
Panasonic Corporation of China (collectively, Panasonic), and BTR New
Material Group Co., Ltd.\4\
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\1\ See Certain Active Anode Material from the People's Republic
of China: Preliminary Affirmative Countervailing Duty Determination
and Alignment of Final Determination with Final Antidumping Duty
Determination, 90 FR 22465 (May 28, 2025) (Preliminary
Determination), and accompanying Preliminary Decision Memorandum
(PDM).
\2\ Id.
\3\ See Preliminary Determination, 90 FR at 22466.
\4\ See Active Anode Material from the People's Republic of
China: Amended Preliminary Determination of Countervailing Duty
Investigation, 90 FR 28994 (July 2, 2025) (Amended Preliminary
Determination), and accompany Issues and Decision Memorandum.
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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.\5\ Additionally, due to a backlog of documents
that were electronically filled 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.\6\ Accordingly, the deadline for this final
determination is now February 10, 2026.
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\5\ See Memorandum, ``Deadlines Affected by the Shutdown of the
Federal Government,'' dated November 14, 2025.
\6\ 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
Preliminary Determination, see the Issues and Decision Memorandum.\7\
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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\7\ See Memorandum, ``Issues and Decision Memorandum for the
Final Affirmative Determination of the Countervailing Duty
Investigation of Active Anode Material from the People's Republic of
China,'' dated concurrently with, and hereby adopted by, this notice
(Issues and Decision Memorandum).
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Scope of the Investigation
The product covered by this investigation is active anode material
from China. For a complete description of the scope of the
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.\8\ 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.\9\ In the Final Scope Memorandum, Commerce determined
that it is modifying the scope language as it appeared in the
Initiation Notice.\10\ See Appendix I.
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\8\ See Memorandum, ``Less-Than-Fair Value and Countervailing
Duty Investigations of Active Anode Material from the People's
Republic of China: Preliminary Scope Determination,'' dated July 16,
2025.
\9\ See Memorandum, ``Less-Than-Fair Value and Countervailing
Duty Investigations of Active Anode Material from the People's
Republic of China: Final Scope Issues and Decision Memorandum,''
dated concurrently with this notice.
\10\ See Active Anode Material from the People's Republic of
China: Initiation of Countervailing Duty Investigation, 90 FR 3788
(January 25, 2025) (Initiation Notice).
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Verification
As provided in section 782(i) of the Act, in December 2025,
Commerce verified all information reported by BTR New Material Group
Co., Ltd. and its cross-owned affiliates (collectively, BTR), the
cooperating supplier to the mandatory respondent, Panasonic. We used
standard verification procedures, including an examination of relevant
account records and original source documents provided by the
respondents.\11\
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\11\ See Memorandum, ``Verification of the Questionnaire
Responses of BTR New Material Group Co., Ltd. and Affiliates,''
dated January 6, 2026.
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Analysis of Subsidy Programs and Comments Received
The subsidy programs under investigation, and the issues raised in
the case and rebuttal briefs by parties in this investigation, are
discussed in the Issues and Decision Memorandum. For a list of the
issues raised by parties, and to which we responded in the Issues and
Decision Memorandum, see Appendix II.
Methodology
Commerce conducted this investigation in accordance with section
701 of the Act. For each of the subsidy
[[Page 7262]]
programs found to be countervailable, Commerce 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.\12\ For a full description of the methodology underlying our
final determination, see the Issues and Decision Memorandum.
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\12\ 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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Changes Since the Preliminary Determination
Based on our review and analysis of the information received during
verification and comments received from parties, for this final
determination, we made certain changes to the countervailable subsidy
rate calculations for BTR and for all other producers/exporters. For a
discussion of these changes, see the Issues and Decision Memorandum.
All-Others Rate
In accordance with section 705(c)(1)(B)(i) of the Act, we
calculated an individual estimated countervailable subsidy rate for the
mandatory respondent, Panasonic. Section 705(c)(5)(A)(i) of the Act
states that, for companies not individually investigated, Commerce will
determine an all-others rate equal to the weighted-average
countervailable subsidy rates established for exporters and/or
producers individually investigated, excluding any zero and de minimis
countervailable subsidy rates, and any rates determined entirely under
section 776 of the Act.
In this investigation, we continue to calculate individual total
net countervailable subsidy rates based entirely on facts available
with an adverse inference for Shanghai Shaosheng Knitted Sweat
(Shaosheng).\13\ Therefore, the only rate that is not zero, de minimis,
or based entirely on facts otherwise available is the rate calculated
for Panasonic. Accordingly, we are assigning the rate calculated for
Panasonic to all other producers and exporters, pursuant to section
705(c)(5)(A)(i) of the Act.
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\13\ In the Preliminary Determination, we found that Shanghai
Shaosheng Knitted Sweat (Shaosheng) did not respond to Commerce's
countervailing duty questionnaire. We made no changes to this
finding. Thus, Shaosheng continues to receive a rate based on
adverse facts available for this final determination.
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Final Determination
Commerce determines that the following estimated net
countervailable subsidy rates exist for the period January 1, 2023,
through December 31, 2023:
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\14\ In the Preliminary Determination, we found that Huzhou
Kaijin New Energy Technology Corp., Ltd. (Huzhou Kaijin) did not
respond to Commerce's request for information. We made no changes to
this finding. Thus, Huzhou Kaijin continues to receive a rate based
on adverse facts available for this final determination.
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Subsidy rate (percent
Company ad valorem)
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Panasonic Global Procurement China Co., Ltd.; 66.86
Panasonic Corporation of China................
BTR New Material Group Co., Ltd., BTR (Jiangsu) * 66.82
New Energy Material Co., Ltd., and BTR New
Material Group Sales Co., Ltd.................
Shanghai Shaosheng Knitted Sweat............... * 66.82
Huzhou Kaijin New Energy Technology Corp., * 66.82
Ltd.\14\......................................
All Others..................................... 66.86
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* Rate is based on facts available with adverse inferences.
Disclosure
Commerce intends to disclose its calculations performed to
interested parties in this final determination within five days of its
public announcement or, if there is no public announcement, within five
days of the date of the publication of this notice in the Federal
Register, in accordance with 19 CFR 351.224(b).
Continuation of Suspension of Liquidation
As a result of our Preliminary Determination, and pursuant to
sections 703(d)(1)(B) and (d)(2) of the Act, Commerce instructed U.S.
Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to collect cash deposits and
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 May 28, 2025, the date of
publication of the Preliminary Determination in the Federal Register.
In accordance with section 703(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 September
26, 2025, but to continue the suspension of liquidation of all entries
of subject merchandise on or before September 25, 2026.
If the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) issues a final
affirmative injury determination, we will issue a CVD order, reinstate
the suspension of liquidation under section 706(a) of the Act, and
require a cash deposit of estimated countervailing duties for such
entries of subject merchandise in the amounts indicated above. Pursuant
to section 705(c)(2) of the Act, if the ITC determines that material
injury, or threat of material injury, does not exist, this proceeding
will be terminated, and all estimated duties deposited or securities
posted as a result of the suspension of liquidation will be refunded or
cancelled.
ITC Notification
In accordance with section 705(d) of the Act, Commerce will notify
the ITC of its final affirmative determination that countervailable
subsidies are being provided to producers and exporters of active anode
material from China. As Commerce's final determination is affirmative,
in accordance with section 705(b) of the Act, the ITC will determine,
within 45 days, whether the domestic industry in the United States is
materially injured, or threated with material injury, by reason of
imports of active anode material from China. In addition, we are making
available to the ITC all non-privileged and non-proprietary information
in our files, provided the ITC confirms that it will not disclose such
information, either publicly or under administrative protective order
(APO), without the written consent of the Assistant Secretary for
Enforcement and Compliance.
If the ITC determines that material injury or threat of material
injury does
[[Page 7263]]
not exist, this proceeding will be terminated and all cash deposits
will be refunded. If the ITC determines that such injury does exist,
Commerce will issue a CVD order directing CBP to assess, upon further
instruction by Commerce, countervailing duties on all imports of the
subject merchandise that are entered, or withdrawn, for consumption on
or after the effective date of the suspension of liquidation, as
discussed above in the ``Continuation of Suspension of Liquidation''
section.
Administrative Protective Order
This notice will serve as the only reminder to parties subject to
the APO of their responsibility concerning the destruction of
proprietary information disclosed under APO, in accordance with 19 CFR
351.305(a)(3). Timely written notification of the return/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 violation which is subject to sanction.
Notification to Interested Parties
This determination is issued and published pursuant to sections
705(d) and 777(i) of the Act, and 19 CFR 351.210(c).
Dated: February 10, 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 this investigation is active anode
material, which is an anode grade graphite material with a graphite
minimum purity content of 90 percent carbon by weight, whether
containing synthetic graphite, natural graphite, or a blend of
synthetic and natural graphite; with or without coating. Subject
merchandise may be in the form of powder, dry, liquid, or block form
and is covered irrespective of the form in which it enters. Subject
merchandise typically has a maximum size of 80 microns when in
powder form. Subject merchandise has an energy density of 330
milliamp hours per gram or greater and a degree of graphitization of
80 percent or greater, where graphitization refers to the extent of
the graphite crystal structure.
Subject merchandise is covered regardless of whether it is mixed
with silicon based active materials, e.g., silicon-oxide (SiOx),
silicon-carbon (SiC), or silicon, or additives such as carbon black
or carbon nanotubes. Subject merchandise is covered regardless of
the combination of compounds that comprise the graphite material.
Subject merchandise is covered regardless of whether it is imported
independently, as part of a compound, or as a component of an anode
slurry, or in a subassembly of a battery such as an electrode. Only
the anode grade graphite material is covered when entered as part of
a mixture with silicon based active materials, as part of a
compound, or as a component of an anode slurry, or in a subassembly
of a battery such as an electrode.
Subject merchandise does not include active anode material
incorporated into imports of lithium-ion battery products (such as
cells, modules, and packs), electric vehicles, hybrid vehicles, cell
phones or battery energy storage systems.
Active anode material subject to this investigation may be
classified under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States
(HTSUS) subheadings 2504.10.5000, 3801.10.5010, and 3801.10.5090.
Subject merchandise may also enter under HTSUS subheadings
2504.10.1000 and 3801.90.00. The HTSUS subheadings are provided for
convenience and customs purposes only. The written description of
the scope of this investigation is dispositive.
Appendix II
List of Topics Discussed in the Issues and Decision Memorandum
I. Summary
II. Background
III. Use of Facts Otherwise Available and Adverse Inferences
IV. Subsidies Valuation
V. Analysis of Programs
VI. Discussion of the Issues
Comment 1: Whether to Continue to Apply Adverse Facts Available
(AFA) Regarding Investigated Programs' Specificity and Financial
Contributions
Comment 2: Whether to Continue to Rely on Total AFA for
Shaosheng
Comment 3: Whether to Apply AFA to Panasonic
Comment 4: Whether Not Verifying Panasonic Precludes Commerce
from Relying on Any Information Panasonic Reported
Comment 5: Whether to Apply Total AFA to BTR New Material Group
Co., Ltd. and Its Affiliates (BTR)
Comment 6: Whether the Electricity for Less-Than-Adequate
Remuneration (LTAR) Program is Countervailable
Comment 7: Whether to Countervail the Provision of Land Use for
LTAR
Comment 8: Whether Commerce's Determinations of Other Subsidies
Exceed the Lawful Scope of Inquiry
Comment 9: Whether to Apply AFA to Huzhou Kaijin
Comment 10: Whether Commerce Erred in Various Calculations for
BTR and its Affiliates
VII. Recommendation
[FR Doc. 2026-02999 Filed 2-13-26; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P
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</html>Indexed from Federal Register on February 17, 2026.
This is legal information, not legal advice. Laws vary by jurisdiction and change frequently. Always verify current law with official sources and consult a licensed attorney in your jurisdiction for advice on your specific situation.