High Purity Dissolving Pulp From Brazil: Final Affirmative Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value

Issuing agencies

Abstract

The U.S. Department of Commerce (Commerce) determines that high purity dissolving pulp (dissolving pulp) from Brazil is being, or is likely to be, sold in the United States at less than fair value (LTFV). The period of investigation (POI) is July 1, 2024, through June 30, 2025.

Full Text

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<title>Federal Register, Volume 91 Issue 199 (Friday, October 16, 2026)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 91, Number 199 (Friday, October 16, 2026)]
[Notices]
[Pages 65723-65725]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2026-21139]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[A-351-866]


High Purity Dissolving Pulp 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 
high purity dissolving pulp (dissolving pulp) from Brazil is being, or 
is likely to be, sold in the United States at less than fair value 
(LTFV). The period of investigation (POI) is July 1, 2024, through June 
30, 2025.

DATES: Applicable October 16, 2026.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ian Riggs, AD/CVD Operations, Office 
IX, Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade Administration, 
U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, 
DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-3810.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    On May 27, 2026, Commerce published in the Federal Register the 
preliminary affirmative determination in the LTFV investigation of 
dissolving pulp from Brazil and postponed the final determination until 
135 days after the date of publication of the Preliminary 
Determination.\1\ Accordingly, the deadline for this final 
determination is now October 9, 2026. We invited interested parties to 
comment on the Preliminary Determination.\2\
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    \1\ See High Purity Dissolving Pulp from Brazil: Preliminary 
Affirmative Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value, 
Postponement of Final Determination, and Extension of Provisional 
Measures; July 1, 2024-June 30, 2025, 91 FR 31418 (May 27, 2026) 
(Preliminary Determination), and accompanying Preliminary Decision 
Memorandum.
    \2\ Id., 91 FR at 31420.
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    A summary of the events that occurred since Commerce published 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.\3\ 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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    \3\ See Memorandum, ``Issues and Decision Memorandum for the 
Final Determination in the Less-Than-Fair-Value Investigation of 
High Purity Dissolving Pulp from Brazil,'' 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 dissolving pulp 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.\4\ We received no 
scope case briefs from interested parties. Therefore, we made no 
changes to the scope of the investigation as it appeared in the 
Preliminary Determination.
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    \4\ See Memorandum, ``Less-Than-Fair-Value Investigations of 
High Purity Dissolving Pulp from Brazil and Norway and 
Countervailing Duty Investigation of High Purity Dissolving Pulp 
from Brazil: Preliminary Scope Decision Memorandum,'' dated May 18, 
2026 (Preliminary Scope Memorandum).
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Verification

    As provided in section 782(i) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended 
(the Act), in June and July 2026 Commerce conducted verifications of 
the sales and cost information submitted by Bracell Bahia Specialty 
Celulose S.A. and Bracell SP Celulose Ltda. (collectively, Bracell) for 
use in the final determination. We used standard verification 
procedures, including an examination of relevant sales and accounting 
records, and original source documents provided by Bracell.

[[Page 65724]]

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 to the calculation of the estimated 
weighted-average dumping margin for Bracell since the Preliminary 
Determination. 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 weighted-average dumping margin, i.e., 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 exporters 
and producers individually investigated, excluding any zero and de 
minimis margins, and any margins determined entirely under section 776 
of the Act.
    In this investigation, Commerce calculated an individual estimated 
weighted-average dumping margin for Bracell. Because Bracell's 
estimated weighted-average dumping margin is the only individually 
calculated rate in this investigation and it is not zero, de minimis, 
or based entirely on facts otherwise available, the rate calculated for 
Bracell is also the estimated weighted-average dumping margin assigned 
to all other producers and exporters.

Final Determination

    Commerce determines that the following estimated weighted-average 
dumping margins exist:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                             Estimated     Cash deposit
                                             weighted-    rate (adjusted
          Exporter or producer                average       for subsidy
                                          dumping margin     offsets)
                                             (percent)       (percent)
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Bracell Bahia Specialty Cellulose S.A.;             6.50            6.40
 Bracell SP Celulose Ltda.\5\...........
All Others..............................            6.50            6.40
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Disclosure
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    \5\ Commerce determined that Bracell Bahia Specialty Celulose 
S.A. and Bracell SP Celulose Ltda. are a single entity. See 
Preliminary Determination.
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    Commerce intends to disclose the calculations 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).

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 May 27, 2026, the date of 
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), upon publication of this notice, we will instruct CBP to 
require a cash deposit for estimated antidumping duties as follows: (1) 
the cash deposit rate for the respondents listed in the table 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 listed in the table above, but the 
producer is, then the cash deposit rate will be equal to the company-
specific estimated weighted-average dumping margin listed for the 
producer of the subject merchandise; and (3) the cash deposit rate for 
all other producers and exporters will be equal to the estimated 
weighted-average dumping margin for all other producers and exporters.
    These suspension of liquidation instructions and cash deposit 
requirements will remain in effect until further notice.

U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) Notification

    In accordance with section 735(d) of the Act, Commerce 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 sections 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 dissolving pulp from Brazil no later than 45 days 
after this final determination. If the ITC determines that such injury 
does not exist, this proceeding will be terminated, all cash deposits 
posted will be refunded, 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 
instruction by Commerce, antidumping duties on all imports of the 
subject merchandise entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for 
consumption on or after the effective date of the suspension of 
liquidation, as discussed in the ``Continuation of Suspension of 
Liquidation'' section above.

Administrative Protective Order (APO)

    This notice serves as a final reminder to parties subject to an APO 
of their responsibility concerning the return or destruction of 
proprietary information disclosed under APO in accordance with 19 CFR 
351.305(a)(3), which continues to govern business proprietary 
information in this segment of the proceeding. 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 the terms of an APO is a violation 
subject to sanction.

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: October 9, 2026.
Scot Fullerton,
Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary for Antidumping and Countervailing 
Duty Operations.

Appendix I

    The merchandise subject to this investigation is high purity 
dissolving pulp, which is a dissolving pulp with an alpha

[[Page 65725]]

cellulose percentage of 90 percent by weight or higher on an oven 
dry basis, as calculated by: alpha cellulose percentage = (100-S10) 
+ 0.5 * (S10-S18) where S10 and S18 values are determined by 
International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 692:1982, and 
having a brightness level of 90 percent or higher, as measured by 
ISO 2470-1:2016. High purity dissolving pulp may be derived from any 
virgin or recycled cellulose fiber source (including, but not 
limited to, those sourced from hardwoods, softwoods, woody crops, 
agricultural crops/byproducts/residue, and agricultural/industrial/
other waste). High purity dissolving pulp may be produced from a 
chemical pulping process including without limitation a kraft 
(sulfate) pulping and/or sulfite pulping process.
    High purity dissolving pulp can be shipped in any form, 
including, but not limited to, a liquid slurry or in any dried form 
such as flakes, powder, granules, pellets, shreds, rolls and sheets.
    The scope includes merchandise matching the above description 
that has been finished, packaged, or otherwise processed in a third 
country, including but not limited to processes such as commingling, 
blending, diluting, repackaging, or any other process that would not 
otherwise remove the merchandise from the scope of the investigation 
if performed in the subject country. The scope also includes high 
purity dissolving pulp that is commingled or blended with high 
purity dissolving pulp from sources not subject to this 
investigation. Only the subject component of such commingled or 
blended products is covered by the scope of this investigation.
    Excluded from the scope is high purity dissolving pulp with an 
intrinsic viscosity under 455 milliliters per gram (mL/g), as 
measured by ISO 5351:2010.
    Also excluded from the scope is cotton linters pulp that 
consists of at least 90 percent by weight, on an oven-dried basis, 
of cotton linters fibers.
    High purity dissolving pulp products are classified under 
subheadings 4702.00.0020 and 4702.00.0040 of the Harmonized Tariff 
Schedule of the United States (HTSUS). High purity dissolving pulp 
products may also enter under subheadings 4706.30.0000 or 
4706.92.0100. Reference to the HTSUS classifications is provided for 
convenience and customs purposes, and the written description of the 
merchandise under investigation is dispositive.

Appendix II

List of Topics Discussed in the Issues and Decision Memorandum

I. Summary
II. Background
III. Changes Since the Preliminary Determination
IV. Discussion of the Issues
    Comment 1: Whether To Continue To Apply Partial Adverse Facts 
Available (AFA) to Bracell's Packing Expenses
    Comment 2: Whether To Deduct International Economic Emergency 
Powers Act (IEEPA) Tariffs From U.S. Price
    Comment 3: Whether To Revise the Calculation of Inventory 
Carrying Costs Incurred in the United States
    Comment 4: Whether Commerce Should Treat Certain Indirect 
Selling Expenses as Direct Selling Expenses
    Comment 5: Whether To Continue To Allocate Certain Costs to the 
Merchandise Under Consideration
    Comment 6: Whether To Incorporate All Minor Corrections From the 
Sales and Cost Verifications in the Calculations for the Final 
Determination
V. Recommendation

[FR Doc. 2026-21139 Filed 10-15-26; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P


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