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

Full Text

<html>
<head>
<title>Federal Register, Volume 91 Issue 199 (Friday, October 16, 2026)</title>
</head>
<body><pre>
[Federal Register Volume 91, Number 199 (Friday, October 16, 2026)]
[Notices]
[Pages 65727-65729]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2026-21140]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[A-403-808]


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

DATES: Applicable October 16, 2026.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Braeden Lowe, 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) 482-9124.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    On May 27, 2026, Commerce published in the Federal Register its 
preliminary affirmative determination in the LTFV investigation of high 
purity dissolving pulp from Norway 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\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \1\ See High Purity Dissolving Pulp from Norway: Preliminary 
Affirmative Determination of Sales at Less-Than-Fair-Value, 
Postponement of Final Determination, and Extension of Provisional 
Measures, 91 FR 31413 (May 27, 2026) (Preliminary Determination).
    \2\ Id., 91 FR at 31414.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    A summary of the events that occurred since Commerce published the 
Preliminary Determination, as well as a full discussion of the issue 
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 made available to the public via 
Enforcement and Compliance's Antidumping and Countervailing Duty

[[Page 65728]]

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>.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \3\ See Memorandum, ``Issues and Decision Memorandum for the 
Final Affirmative Determination in the Less Than Fair Value 
Investigation of High Purity Dissolving Pulp from Norway,'' dated 
concurrently with, and hereby adopted by, this notice (Issues and 
Decision Memorandum).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Scope of the Investigation

    The product covered by this investigation is high purity dissolving 
pulp from Norway. For a complete description of the scope of this 
investigation, see Appendix I.

Scope Comments

    During the course of this investigation, Commerce received scope 
comments from parties. Commerce issued a Preliminary Scope Decision 
Memorandum to address these comments and set aside a period of time for 
parties to address scope issues in scope-specific case and rebuttal 
briefs.\4\ We received no comments from parties on the Preliminary 
Scope Decision Memorandum. Therefore, we made no changes to the scope 
of the investigation as it appeared in the Initiation Notice. See the 
scope in Appendix I to this notice.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \4\ See Memorandum, ``Less-Than-Fair-Value Investigation 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 Decision Memorandum).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Verification

    As provided in section 782(i) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended 
(the Act), in June and July 2026, Commerce verified the sales and cost 
information submitted by Borregaard AS (Borregaard), 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 Borregaard.\5\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \5\ See Memoranda, ``Verification of the Sales Response of 
Borregaard AS in the Less-Than-Fair-Value Investigation of High 
Purity Dissolving Pulp from Norway,'' dated July 27, 2026; and 
``Verification of the Cost Response of Borregaard AS in the Less-
Than-Fair-Value Investigation of High Purity Dissolving Pulp from 
Norway,'' dated August 17, 2026.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

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 margin calculations for Borregaard 
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 and Commerce's regulations at 19 
CFR 351.109(f)(1) provide 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 Borregaard. Because Borregaard'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 
Borregaard is also the estimated weighted-average dumping margin 
assigned to all other producers and exporters not individually 
examined, pursuant to section 735(c)(5)(A) of the Act.

Final Determination

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

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                             Estimated
                                                             weighted-
                  Exporter or producer                        average
                                                          dumping margin
                                                             (percent)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Borregaard AS...........................................            6.51
All Others..............................................            6.51
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Disclosure

    Commerce intends to disclose the calculations performed in 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 and Cash Deposit Requirements

    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 entries, 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 the publication of this notice, we will instruct CBP 
to require a cash deposit as follows: (1) the cash deposit rate for 
subject merchandise exported by one of the companies 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 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 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.

ITC Notification

    In accordance with section 735(d) of the Act, we will notify the 
U.S. International Trade Commission (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 determine, within 45 days, whether the domestic 
industry in the United States is materially injured, or threatened with 
material injury, by reason of imports of high purity dissolving pulp 
from Norway. If the ITC determines that material injury or threat of 
material injury does not exist, the proceeding will be terminated, all 
cash deposits 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 that are entered, or

[[Page 65729]]

withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or after the effective 
date of the suspension of liquidation, as discussed above in the 
section, ``Continuation of Suspension of Liquidation.''

Administrative Protective Order (APO)

    This notice will serve as the 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). 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 which is subject to sanction.

Notification to Interested Parties

    This determination and this notice are issued and published 
pursuant to sections 735(d) and 777(i)(1) 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

Scope of the Investigation

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

I. Summary
II. Background
III. Changes Since the Preliminary Determination
IV. Discussion of the Issue
    Comment: Selection of the Appropriate Comparison Market
V. Recommendation

[FR Doc. 2026-21140 Filed 10-15-26; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P


</pre></body>
</html>