Notice2026-22710
N-Cyclohexylbenzothiazole-2-Sulfenamide From the People's Republic of China: Preliminary Affirmative Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value and Preliminary Affirmative Determination of Critical Circumstances
Primary source
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Published
November 6, 2026
Issuing agencies
Commerce DepartmentInternational Trade Administration
Abstract
The U.S. Department of Commerce (Commerce) preliminarily determines that N-Cyclohexylbenzothiazole-2-Sulfenamide (CBS) from the People's Republic of China (China) is being, or is likely to be, sold in the United States at less than fair value (LTFV). The period of investigation (POI) is October 1, 2025, through March 31, 2026. Interested parties are invited to comment on this preliminary determination.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 91 Issue 214 (Friday, November 6, 2026)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 91, Number 214 (Friday, November 6, 2026)]
[Notices]
[Pages 70053-70055]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2026-22710]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
International Trade Administration
[A-570-234]
N-Cyclohexylbenzothiazole-2-Sulfenamide From the People's
Republic of China: Preliminary Affirmative Determination of Sales at
Less Than Fair Value and Preliminary Affirmative Determination of
Critical Circumstances
AGENCY: Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade Administration,
Department of Commerce.
DATE: Applicable November 6, 2026.
SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of Commerce (Commerce) preliminarily
determines that N-Cyclohexylbenzothiazole-2-Sulfenamide (CBS) from the
People's Republic of China (China) is being, or is likely to be, sold
in the United States at less than fair value (LTFV). The period of
investigation (POI) is October 1, 2025, through March 31, 2026.
Interested parties are invited to comment on this preliminary
determination.
DATES: Applicable November 6, 2026.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Allison Hollander or Caroline Carroll,
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) 482-2805 and (202)
482-4948, respectively.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
This preliminary determination is made in accordance with section
733(b) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (the Act). Commerce
published the notice of initiation of this investigation on June 2,
2026.\1\ On September 24, 2026, Commerce postponed the preliminary
determination of this investigation and the revised deadline is now
October 28, 2026.\2\
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\1\ See N-Cyclohexylbenzothiazole-2-Sulfenamide from the
People's Republic of China: Initiation of Less-Than-Fair-Value
Investigation, 91 FR 32941 (June 2, 2026) (Initiation Notice).
\2\ See N-Cyclohexylbenzothizole-2-Sulfenamide from the People's
Republic of China: Postponement of Preliminary Determination in the
Less-Than-Fair-Value Investigation, 91 FR 60600 (September 24,
2026).
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For a complete description of the events that followed the
initiation of this investigation, see the Preliminary Decision
Memorandum.\3\ A list of topics
[[Page 70054]]
included 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 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 Preliminary
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, ``Decision Memorandum for the Preliminary
Determination in the Less-Than-Fair-Value Investigation of N-
Cyclohexylbenzothiazole-2-Sulfenamide from the People's Republic of
China,'' 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 CBS from China. For a
complete description of the scope of this investigation, see Appendix
I.
Scope Comments
In accordance with the preamble to Commerce's regulations,\4\ the
Initiation Notice set aside a period of time for parties to raise
issues regarding product coverage (scope).\5\ No interested party
commented on the scope of the investigation as it appeared in the
Initiation Notice. Commerce is not preliminarily modifying the scope
language as it appeared in the Initiation Notice. See the scope in
Appendix I to this notice.
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\4\ See Antidumping Duties; Countervailing Duties, Final Rule,
62 FR 27296, 27323 (May 19, 1997).
\5\ See Initiation Notice, 91 FR at 32942.
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Methodology
Commerce is conducting this investigation in accordance with
sections 731 and 733(b) of the Act. Pursuant to sections 776(a) and (b)
of the Act, Commerce preliminarily has relied upon facts otherwise
available, with adverse inferences, for the China-wide entity, which
includes the companies that did not respond to Commerce's quantity and
value questionnaire, separate rate application, or Commerce's initial
questionnaire. For a full description of the methodology underlying
Commerce's preliminary determination, see the Preliminary Decision
Memorandum.
Preliminary Affirmative Determination of Critical Circumstances
In accordance with section 733(e) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.206,
Commerce preliminarily determines that critical circumstances exist
with respect to imports of CBS from China for the China-wide entity.
For a full description of the methodology and results of Commerce's
critical circumstances analysis, see the Preliminary Decision
Memorandum.
Combination Rates
In the Initiation Notice,\6\ Commerce stated that it would
calculate producer/exporter combination rates for the respondents that
are eligible for a separate rate in this investigation. Policy Bulletin
05.1 describes this practice.\7\ In this case, because no respondent
qualified for a separate rate, producer/exporter combination rates were
not calculated.
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\6\ See Initiation Notice, 91 FR at 32945.
\7\ See Enforcement and Compliance's Policy Bulletin No. 05.1,
regarding, ``Separate-Rates Practice and Application of Combination
Rates in Antidumping Investigations involving Non-Market Economy
Countries,'' (April 5, 2005) (Policy Bulletin 05.1), available on
Commerce's website at <a href="https://www.trade.gov/enforcement-and-compliance-policy-bulletins-0">https://www.trade.gov/enforcement-and-compliance-policy-bulletins-0</a>.
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Preliminary Determination
Commerce preliminarily determines that the following estimated
weighted-average dumping margins exist:
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Weighted- Cash deposit
average rate (adjusted
Producer/ exporter dumping for subsidy
margin offset)
(percent) (percent)
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China-Wide Entity........................... * 285.94 281.69
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* Rate based on facts available with adverse inferences.
Suspension of Liquidation
In accordance with section 733(d)(2) of the Act, Commerce will
direct U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to suspend liquidation
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,
as discussed below. Further, pursuant to section 733(d)(1)(B) of the
Act and 19 CFR 351.205(d), Commerce will instruct CBP to require a cash
deposit equal to the weighted average amount by which normal value
exceeds U.S. price, as indicated in the chart above as follows: (1) for
all Chinese producers/exporters of merchandise under consideration that
have not established eligibility for their own separate rates, the cash
deposit rate will be equal to the estimated weighted-average dumping
margin established for the China-wide entity; and (2) for all third-
county exporters of merchandise under consideration not listed in the
table above, the cash deposit rate is the cash deposit rate applicable
to the China-wide entity that supplied that third-country exporter.
Section 733(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 from the China-wide entity. In accordance with section
733(e)(2)(A) of the Act, the suspension of liquidation shall apply to
all unliquidated entries of merchandise from the producer/exporter
combinations 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.
To determine the cash deposit rate, Commerce normally adjusts the
estimated weighted-average dumping margin by the amount of domestic
subsidy pass-through and export subsidies determined in a companion
countervailing duty (CVD) proceeding when CVD provisional measures are
in effect. Accordingly, where Commerce has made a preliminary
affirmative determination for domestic subsidy pass-through or export
subsidies, Commerce has offset the calculated estimated weighted-
average dumping margin by the appropriate rate(s). Any such adjusted
rates may be found in the ``Preliminary Determination'' section's chart
of estimated weighted-average dumping margins above.
Should provisional measures in the companion CVD investigation
expire prior to the expiration of provisional measures in this LTFV
investigation, Commerce will direct CBP to begin collecting cash
deposits at a rate equal to the estimated weighted-average dumping
margins calculated in this preliminary determination unadjusted for the
passed-through domestic subsidies or for export subsidies at the time
the CVD provisional measures expire.
These suspension of liquidation instructions will remain in effect
until further notice.
Disclosure
Normally, Commerce discloses to interested parties the calculations
performed in connection with a preliminary determination within five
[[Page 70055]]
days of its public announcement or, if there is no public announcement,
within five days of the date of publication of this notice in
accordance with 19 CFR 351.224(b). However, because Commerce
preliminarily applied adverse facts available (AFA) to the China-wide
entity in this investigation in accordance with section 776 of the Act,
and the applied AFA rate is based solely on the petition, there are no
calculations to disclose.
Verification
Because the mandatory respondents in this investigation did not
provide information requested by Commerce, withdrew from participating
in this proceeding, and Commerce preliminarily determines each of the
mandatory respondents to have been uncooperative, verification will not
be conducted.
Public Comment
Case briefs or other written comments may be submitted to the
Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance no later than 14
days after the date of publication of the preliminary determination,
unless the Secretary alters the time limit. 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.\8\ 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.\9\
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\8\ 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).
\9\ See 19 351.309(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.\10\ 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).\11\
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\10\ We use the term ``issue'' here to describe an argument that
Commerce would normally address in a comment of the Issues and
Decision Memorandum.
\11\ 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:
(1) the party's name, address, and telephone number; (2) the number of
participants and whether any participant is a foreign national; and (3)
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.
Final Determination
Section 735(a)(1) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.210(b)(1) provide that
Commerce will issue the final determination within 75 days after the
date of its preliminary determination. Accordingly, Commerce will make
its final determination no later than 75 days after the signature date
of this preliminary determination.
U.S. International Trade Commission Notification
In accordance with section 733(f) of the Act, Commerce will notify
the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) of its preliminary
determination of sales at LTFV. 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 the subject merchandise are materially
injuring, or threaten material injury to, the U.S. industry.
Notification to Interested Parties
This determination is issued and published in accordance with
sections 733(f) and 777(i)(1) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.205(c).
Dated: October 28, 2026.
Scot Fullerton,
Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary for Antidumping and Countervailing
Duty Operations.
Appendix I
Scope of the Investigation
The product subject to this investigation is N-
Cyclohexylbenzothiazole-2-sulfenamide (CBS), an organic compound
also known as N-cyclohexyl-2-benzothiazolesulfenamide, N-(1,3-
benzothiazol-2-ylsulfanyl) cyclohexanamine and N-
cyclohexylbenzothiazol-2-sulphenamide. It may additionally be termed
Accelerator CZ, CBTS, Thiohexam, HIP4, Curax, DURAX, Conaca, Conach,
Conacs, or Celacs. A CBS assay or sample most commonly reflects a
concentration of 94 to 99 percent.
CBS is most commonly in the form of an off-white or light gray
powder, oiled powder, or granule, though CBS imported in a different
color or form is included in the scope. CBS typically has a melting
point of 90 to 110[deg]C and a molecular weight of 264.4 g/mol. CBS
may be imported in a solution of benzene, ethanol, or acetone. CBS
has the chemical formula C13H16N2S2 and is assigned the Chemical
Abstract Service (CAS) registry No. 95-33-0.
The scope also includes CBS that is commingled with CBS from
sources not subject to this investigation.
CBS powder, oiled powder, and granules are classified under
subheading 2934.20.8000, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United
States (HTSUS). Imports of CBS may also be classified under
subheadings 3812.10.1000 and 3812.10.5000, HTSUS. Although the HTSUS
and CAS numbers are provided for convenience and customs purposes,
the written description of the scope is dispositive.
Appendix II
List of Topics Discussed in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum
I. Summary
II. Background
III. Period of Investigation
IV. Discussion of the Methodology
V. Preliminary Affirmative Determination of Critical Circumstances
VI. Adjustments to Cash Deposit Rates for Export Subsidies in the
Companion Countervailing Duty Investigation
VII. Recommendation
[FR Doc. 2026-22710 Filed 11-5-26; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P
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