Notice2026-10520

Certain Monomers and Oligomers from the Republic of Korea: Final Affirmative Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value and Final Affirmative Determination of Critical Circumstances

Primary source

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Published
May 27, 2026

Issuing agencies

Commerce DepartmentInternational Trade Administration

Abstract

The U.S. Department of Commerce (Commerce) determines that certain monomers and oligomers (monomers and oligomers) from the Republic of Korea (Korea) are being, or are likely to be, sold in the United States at less than fair value (LTFV). The period of investigation (POI) is January 1, 2024, through December 31, 2024.

Full Text

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<title>Federal Register, Volume 91 Issue 101 (Wednesday, May 27, 2026)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 91, Number 101 (Wednesday, May 27, 2026)]
[Notices]
[Pages 31415-31418]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2026-10520]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[A-580-921]


Certain Monomers and Oligomers from the Republic of Korea: Final 
Affirmative Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value and Final 
Affirmative Determination of Critical Circumstances

AGENCY: Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade Administration, 
Department of Commerce.

SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of Commerce (Commerce) determines that 
certain monomers and oligomers (monomers and oligomers) from the 
Republic of Korea (Korea) are being, or are likely to be, sold in the 
United States at less than fair value (LTFV). The period of 
investigation (POI) is January 1, 2024, through December 31, 2024.

DATES: Applicable May 27, 2026.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Peter Shaw or Sun Cho, AD/CVD 
Operations, Office V, Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade 
Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue 
NW, Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-6458 or (202) 482-0697.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    On January 5, 2026, Commerce published the Preliminary 
Determination in this investigation and postponed the final 
determination to no later than 135 days after the date of publication 
of the Preliminary Determination.\1\ Accordingly, the deadline for this 
final determination is now May 20, 2026. We invited interested parties 
to comment on the Preliminary Determination.\2\ On February 6, 2026, 
Commerce published the Amended Preliminary Determination in this 
investigation.\3\
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    \1\ See Certain Monomers and Oligomers from the Republic of 
Korea: Preliminary Affirmative Determination of Sales at Less Than 
Fair Value, Preliminary Affirmative Determination of Critical 
Circumstances, in Part, and Postponement of Final Determination, and 
Extension of Provisional Measures, 91 FR 244 (January 5, 2026) 
(Preliminary Determination), and accompanying Preliminary Decision 
Memorandum (PDM).
    \2\ Id.
    \3\ See Certain Monomers and Oligomers from the Republic of 
Korea: Amended Preliminary Affirmative Determination of Sales at 
Less Than Fair Value, 91 FR 5429 (February 6, 2026) (Amended 
Preliminary Determination).
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    For a complete description of the events that occurred since the 
Preliminary Determination, see the Issues and Decision Memorandum.\4\ 
The Issues and Decision Memorandum is a public document and is on file 
electronically via Enforcement and Compliance's Antidumping and 
Countervailing Duty Centralized Electronic Service System (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/frnotices">https://access.trade.gov/frnotices</a>.
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    \4\ See Memorandum, ``Issues and Decision Memorandum for the 
Final Affirmative Determination in the Less-Than-Fair-Value 
Investigation of Certain Monomers and Oligomers from the Republic of 
Korea,'' 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 monomers and 
oligomers from Korea. For a complete description of the scope of this 
investigation, see Appendix I.

Scope Comments

    We received no comments from interested parties on the scope of the 
investigation as it appeared in the Preliminary Determination. 
Therefore, we made no changes to the scope of the investigation.

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 Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (the Act). 
Specifically, Commerce conducted on-site verification of the sales and 
cost information submitted by Green Chemical Co., Ltd. (Green Chemical) 
and Miwon Specialty Chemical Co., Ltd. (Miwon).\5\ We used standard

[[Page 31416]]

verification procedures, including an examination of relevant sales and 
accounting records, and original source documents provided by Green 
Chemical and Miwon.
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    \5\ See Memoranda, ``Verification of the Sales Responses of 
Green Chemical,'' dated April 3, 2026; ``Verification of the Sales 
Responses of Miwon Specialty Chemical Co., Ltd.,'' dated April 3, 
2026; ``Verification of the Sales Responses of Miwon North America, 
Inc.,'' dated April 3, 2026; ``Verification of the Cost Response of 
Green Chemical Co. Ltd. and Green Life Science Co., Ltd.,'' dated 
April 6, 2026; ``Verification of the Cost Response of Miwon 
Specialty Chemical Co., Ltd.,'' dated April 10, 2026; ``Verification 
of the Cost Response of Miwon Specialty Chemical Co., Ltd.,'' dated 
April 10, 2026; and ``Verification of the Cost Response of Miwon 
Specialty Chemical Co., Ltd.,'' dated May 13, 2026.
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Analysis of Comments Received

    All issues raised in the case and rebuttal briefs submitted by 
interested parties in this investigation are addressed in the Issues 
and Decision Memorandum. For a list of the issues addressed in the 
Issues and Decision Memorandum, see Appendix II.

Changes Since the Preliminary Determination

    We made certain changes since the Preliminary Determination. For a 
discussion of these changes, see the Issues and Decision Memorandum.

Use of Adverse Facts Available

    Consistent with the Preliminary Determination, Commerce continues 
to find, pursuant to sections 776(a) and (b) of the Act, that the use 
of facts otherwise available, with adverse inferences (AFA), is 
warranted in determining the estimated weighted-average dumping rate 
for Kukdo Chemicals Co., Ltd. (Kukdo Chemicals). For this final 
determination, there is no new information on the record that would 
cause us to reconsider our preliminary decision.\6\ As AFA, we are 
assigning a rate of 155.42 percent to Kukdo Chemicals.\7\ For a full 
description of the methodology underlying Commerce's final 
determination, see the Issues and Decision Memorandum.
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    \6\ See Preliminary Determination PDM at ``Application of Facts 
Available and Use of Adverse Inferences.''
    \7\ The rate we are assigning as AFA changed from the 
Preliminary Determination. For a detailed discussion of this issue 
see the Issues and Decision Memorandum at ``Application of Facts 
Available and Use of Adverse Inference''.
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    As discussed in the Issues and Decision Memorandum, Commerce finds, 
pursuant to sections 776(a) and (b) of the Act, that the use of AFA is 
warranted in determining the estimated weighted-average dumping margin 
for Miwon.\8\ As AFA, we assigned the rate of 155.42 percent to 
Miwon.\9\ For a full description of the methodology underlying 
Commerce's final determination, see the Issues and Decision Memorandum.
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    \8\ See Issues and Decision Memorandum at Comment 1.
    \9\ Id.
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All-Others Rate

    Section 735(c)(5)(A) of the Act provides that Commerce shall 
determine an estimated all-others rate for all other 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 exporters and producers individually examined, 
excluding rates that are zero, de minimis, or determined entirely under 
section 776 of the Act. In this investigation, Commerce calculated an 
individual estimated weighted-average dumping margin for Green 
Chemical. Because Green Chemical's dumping margin is the only 
individually calculated dumping margin that is not zero, de minimis, or 
based entirely on facts otherwise available, the estimated weighted-
average dumping margin calculated for Green Chemical is the margin 
assigned to all other producers and exporters.\10\
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    \10\ See, e.g., Steel Threaded Rod from Thailand: Preliminary 
Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value and Affirmative 
Preliminary Determination of Critical Circumstances, 78 FR 79670, 
79671 (December 31, 2013), unchanged in Steel Threaded Rod from 
Thailand: Final Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value and 
Affirmative Final Determination of Critical Circumstances, 79 FR 
14476, 14477 (March 14, 2014).
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Final Affirmative Determination of Critical Circumstances

    We continue to find that critical circumstances exist for imports 
of the subject merchandise from Korea produced and/or exported by Green 
Chemical and Kukdo Chemicals pursuant to sections 735(a)(3)(A) and (B) 
of the Act, and 19 CFR 351.206. In addition, as a result of our 
application of AFA for Miwon, we find that critical circumstances exist 
for imports of the subject merchandise from Korea produced and/or 
exported by Miwon and all other producers and/or exporters.\11\
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    \11\ See Issues and Decision Memorandum at ``Final Affirmative 
Determination of Critical Circumstances.''
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Final Determination

    Commerce determines that the following estimated weighted-average 
dumping margins exist for the period January 1, 2024, through December 
31, 2024:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                               Weighted-
                                                                average
                      Exporter/producer                         dumping
                                                                margin
                                                               (percent)
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Green Chemical Co., Ltd.; Green Life Science \12\...........       65.72
Miwon Specialty Chemical Co., Ltd...........................    * 155.42
Kukdo Chemicals Co. Ltd.....................................    * 155.42
All Others..................................................       65.72
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* Rate is based on facts available with adverse inferences.

Disclosure
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    \12\ Commerce preliminarily determined that Green Chemical Co., 
Ltd. and Green Life Science should be collapsed and treated as a 
single entity. See, e.g., Preliminary Determination, 91 FR at 245. 
We received no comments on this preliminary determination; thus, we 
continue to treat Green Chemical Co., Ltd. and Green Life Science as 
a single entity for the purposes of this final determination.
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    Normally, Commerce will disclose to the parties in a proceeding the 
calculations performed in connection with a final determination 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 of final determination in the Federal Register, in accordance 
with 19 CFR 351.224(b). However, because Commerce received no comments 
on the Preliminary Determination regarding Green Chemical, it is 
adopting the Preliminary Determination as the final determination for 
Green Chemical in this investigation. Consequently, there are no new 
calculations to disclose for Green Chemical. Because Commerce applied 
an AFA rate based solely on the Petition to the other individually 
examined company in this investigation, Miwon, in accordance with 
section 776 of the Act, there are no calculations to disclose for 
Miwon.\13\
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    \13\ 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); see also Checklist, ``AD Investigation 
Initiation Checklist,'' dated April 16, 2025; see also Petitioner's 
Letter, ``Response to Volume IV Supplemental Questions,'' dated 
April 4, 2025, at Exhibit Supp-IV-3.
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Continuation of Suspension of Liquidation

    In accordance with section 735(c)(1)(B) of the Act, Commerce will 
instruct U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to continue 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 January 5, 2026, the date of 
publication of the Preliminary Determination in the Federal Register. 
Because we determine

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that critical circumstances exist with respect to Green Chemical, Kukdo 
Chemicals, Miwon, and all other producers and/or exporters, we will 
instruct CBP to suspend such entries on or after October 7, 2025, which 
is 90 days prior to the date of the publication of the Preliminary 
Determination in the Federal Register. Pursuant to section 
735(c)(1)(B)(ii) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.210(d), where appropriate, 
Commerce will instruct CBP to require a cash deposit equal to the 
estimated weighted-average dumping margin or the estimated all-others 
rate as follows: (1) the cash deposit rate for the respondent listed 
above will be equal to the company-specific estimated weighted-average 
dumping margin determined in this final determination; (2) if the 
exporter is not a respondent identified above, but the producer is, 
then the cash deposit rate will be equal to the company-specific 
estimated weighted-average dumping margin established for that producer 
of the subject merchandise; and (3) the cash deposit rate for all other 
producers and exporters will be equal to the all-others estimated 
weighted-average dumping margin. These suspension of liquidation 
instructions will remain in effect until further notice.

ITC Notification

    In accordance with section 735(d) of the Act, we will notify the 
ITC of our final affirmative determination of sales at LTFV. Because 
the final determination in this proceeding 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 of monomers and oligomers from Korea no later than 45 
days after this final determination. If the ITC determines that 
material injury or threat of material injury does not exist, the 
proceeding will be terminated and 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 AD order 
directing CBP to assess, upon further instruction 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

    This notice will serve 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 and notice are issued and published in 
accordance with sections 735(d) and 777(i) of the Act, and 19 CFR 
351.210(c).

    Dated: May 20, 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 products subject to this investigation are certain 
multifunctional acrylate and methacrylate monomers, and acrylated 
bisphenol-A epoxy based oligomers (collectively, certain monomers 
and oligomers or CMOs) that are derived from chemical reactions 
involving the use of acrylic or methacrylic acid. Products within 
the scope are listed below and have the following Chemical Abstracts 
Service (CAS) numbers:

 
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           CAS No.                               Description                            Molecular formula
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109-16-0.....................  Triethylene glycol dimethacrylate (TEGDMA).....  C14H22O6
13048-33-4...................  1,6-hexanediol diacrylate (HDDA)...............  C12H18O4
42978-66-5...................  Tripropylene glycol diacrylate (TPGDA).........  C15H24O6
3290-92-4....................  Trimethylolpropane trimethacrylate (TMPTMA)....  C18H26O6
15625-89-5...................  Trimethylolpropane triacrylate (TMPTA).........  C15H20O6
28961-43-5...................  Ethoxylated trimethylol-propane triacrylate      (C2H4O)n(C2H4O)n(C2H4O)nC15H20O6
                                (EOTMPTA).
57472-68-1...................  Dipropylene glycol diacrylate (DPGDA)..........  C12H18O5
55818-57-0...................  Bisphenol-A-epichlorohydrin copolymer acrylate   (C15H16O2.C3H5ClO)x.xC3H4O2
                                (EPOXY ACRYLATE).
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    The monomers are generally known as multifunctional acrylates 
(MFAs) or multifunctional methacrylates (MFMAs) depending on whether 
the functional groups are acrylate or methacrylate. The monomers 
generally contain stabilizers/inhibitors, which include but are not 
limited to Hydroquinone, Methyl Hydroquinone, and Butylated Hydroxy 
Toluene. The monomers are either difunctional or trifunctional 
(having 2 or 3 functional groups/molecule), have viscosities of 9 to 
15 centipoise (cPs) at 25 degrees Celsius (if difunctional) or 44 to 
110 cPs at 25 degrees Celsius (if trifunctional), have 
(meth)acrylate equivalent weights (molecular weight per number of 
functional groups) between 99 and 158 and molecular weights between 
226 and 472 grams per mol.
    The acrylated bisphenol-A epoxy based oligomer is commonly 
referred to as epoxy acrylate or acrylated epoxy. In contrast to 
epoxy resin, the main characteristic of the epoxy acrylate oligomer 
is that it contains acrylate functional groups which make them 
curable by free-radical polymerization. The epoxy acrylate has a 
molecular weight between 508 to 536 grams per mol and a viscosity of 
2400 to 3600 cPs at 65 degrees Celsius. The epoxy acrylate generally 
contains stabilizers/inhibitors, which include but are not limited 
to Hydroquinone, Methyl Hydroquinone, and Butylated Hydroxy Toluene.
    Certain monomers and oligomers are subject to the scope even if 
an in-scope monomer or oligomer is blended or mixed with one or more 
other in-scope monomers or oligomers.
    Certain monomers and oligomers in any blend or mixture are also 
subject to the scope, so long as the blend or mixture contains no 
less than 20 percent by weight of in-scope CMOs.
    The scope includes merchandise matching the above description 
that has been processed in a third country, including by 
commingling, diluting, introducing, or removing ingredients, or 
performing any other processing that would not otherwise remove the 
merchandise from the scope of the investigations if performed in the 
subject country.
    The scope also includes CMOs that are commingled, mixed or 
blended with in-scope product from sources not subject to these 
investigations.
    Only the subject component(s) of such blends, mixtures or 
commingled products described above is covered by the scope of these 
investigations. Subject merchandise contained in a blended, mixed or 
commingled product described above will not have undergone a 
chemical reaction as a result of being blended, mixed or commingled.
    Notwithstanding the above, specifically excluded from the scope 
are downstream products, including but not limited to, inks,

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coatings and overprint varnishes. For purposes of this exclusion, 
the downstream product requires only the application of energy to be 
cured, e.g., inks or varnish applied to packaging, coatings applied 
to wood flooring, etc. The energy source required to cure the 
downstream product to its substrate can be thermal, ultraviolet 
radiation, visible light, electron beam radiation, or infrared 
radiation.
    This merchandise is currently classifiable under Harmonized 
Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS) subheadings 
2916.12.5050, 2916.14.2050, 3824.99.2900, 3907.29.0000 and 
3907.30.0000. Subject merchandise may also be entered under 
subheadings 2916.12.1000 and 3824.99.9397. The HTSUS subheadings and 
CAS registry numbers are provided for convenience and customs 
purposes only; the written description of the scope is dispositive.

Appendix II

List of Topics Discussed in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum

I. Summary
II. Background
III. Changes Since the Preliminary Determination
IV. Final Affirmative Determination of Critical Circumstances
V. Application of Facts Available and Use of Adverse Inference
VI. Discussion of the Issues
    Comment 1: Whether to Apply Total Adverse Facts Available to 
Miwon
    Comment 2: Whether Commerce Should Include U.S. Sales of 
Products Further Processed in a Third Country
    Comment 3: Whether Commerce Should Include U.S. Sales of 
Products Further Processed in the United States
    Comment 4: Whether Commerce Should Grant Miwon a Constructed 
Export Price Offset
    Comment 5: Whether to Use Miwon's Reported U.S. Credit and 
Inventory Carrying Expenses
    Comment 6: Whether to Revise Miwon's Reported Home Market Credit 
Expenses
    Comment 7: Whether to Revise Miwon's Reported U.S. Indirect 
Selling Expenses
    Comment 8: Whether to Revise Miwon's Reported Rebates
    Comment 9: Whether to Incorporate Miwon's Minor Corrections from 
the Sales Verification
    Comment 10: Whether to Revise Certain of Miwon's Reported Dates 
of Sale
    Comment 11: Whether to Exclude Miwon's Reported Sales of Non-
Subject Merchandise
    Comment 12: Whether to Clarify Miwon's Reported Sales of Subject 
Merchandise from the Verification Report
    Comment 13: Whether to Adjust Miwon's General & Administrative 
Expense Ratio
    Comment 14: Whether to Clarify Certain Information from the Cost 
Verification Report
VII. Recommendation

[FR Doc. 2026-10520 Filed 5-26-26; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P


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Indexed from Federal Register on May 27, 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.