SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

This preliminary determination is made in accordance with section 703(b) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (the Act). Commerce published the notice of initiation of this investigation on March 13, 2026.^[1]

On April 29, 2026, Commerce postponed the preliminary determination of this investigation and the revised deadline is now July 17, 2026.^[2] For a complete description of the events that followed the initiation of this investigation, see the Preliminary Decision Memorandum.^[3] A list of topics discussed 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 https://access.trade.gov. In addition, a complete version of the Preliminary Decision Memorandum can be accessed directly at https://access.trade.gov/​frnotices.

Scope of the Investigation

The product covered by this investigation is fatty acids from ( printed page 46410) Indonesia. 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, ( i.e., scope).^[5] Certain interested parties commented on the scope of the investigation, as it appeared in the Initiation Notice. Commerce intends to issue its preliminary decision regarding comments concerning the scope of the less-than-fair-value (LTFV) and countervailing duty (CVD) investigations on or before the preliminary determinations of the companion Indonesia and Malaysia LTFV investigations.

Methodology

Commerce is conducting this investigation in accordance with section 701 of the Act. For each of the subsidy programs found to be countervailable, Commerce preliminarily 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.^[6]

Critical Circumstances

Consistent with 19 CFR 351.206(c)(2)(ii), because the petitioner filed its critical circumstances allegation less than 20 days before the due date for issuing the preliminary determination in this investigation, unless the deadline is extended, we will issue a standalone preliminary determination regarding critical circumstances no later than July 29, 2026, which is 30 days after the date on which the petitioner filed its critical circumstances allegation with Commerce.

Alignment

As noted in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum, in accordance with section 705(a)(1) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.210(b)(4), Commerce is aligning the final CVD determination in this investigation with the final determination in the companion LTFV investigation of fatty acids from Indonesia based on a request made by Vantage Specialty Chemicals, Inc. (the petitioner).^[7] Consequently, the final CVD determination will be issued on the same date as the final LTFV determination, which is currently scheduled to be issued no later than November 30, 2026, unless postponed.

All-Others Rate

Sections 703(d) and 705(c)(5)(A) of the Act provide that in the preliminary determination, Commerce shall determine an estimated all-others rate for companies not individually examined. This rate shall be an amount equal to the weighted average of the estimated subsidy rates established for those companies individually examined, excluding any zero and de minimis rates and any rates based entirely under section 776 of the Act.

In this investigation, Commerce calculated individual estimated countervailable subsidy rates for Wilmar and PT Musim Mas (Musim Mas) that are not zero, de minimis, or based entirely on facts otherwise available. Commerce calculated the all-others rate using a weighted average of the estimated subsidy rates calculated for the individually examined respondents using each company's publicly-ranged values for its sales of the merchandise under consideration.^[8]

Preliminary Determination

Commerce preliminarily determines that the following estimated countervailable subsidy rates exist:

Suspension of Liquidation

In accordance with section 703(d)(2) of the Act, Commerce will direct U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to suspend liquidation of entries of subject merchandise as described in the scope of the investigation entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or after the date of publication of this notice in the Federal Register . Further, pursuant to section 703(d)(1)(B) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.107(e), Commerce will instruct CBP to require a cash deposit equal to the estimated company-specific countervailable subsidy rate or the estimated all-others rate, as follows: (1) the cash deposit rate for the respondents listed above will be equal to the company-specific estimated individual countervailable subsidy rates determined in this preliminary determination; (2) if both the producer and exporter of the subject merchandise have company-specific estimated subsidy rates determined in this preliminary determination, and their rates differ, then the applicable cash deposit rate will be the higher of these two rates; (3) if either the producer or the exporter, but not both, of the subject merchandise have a company-specific estimated subsidy rate determined in this preliminary determination, the applicable cash deposit rate will be that company's company-specific rate; and (4) the cash deposit rate for all other producers and exporters will be equal to the estimated all-others subsidy rate.

Disclosure

Commerce intends to disclose its calculations and analysis performed in this preliminary determination to parties to the proceeding within five days of its public announcement of the preliminary determination, 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).

Consistent with 19 CFR 351.224(e), Commerce will analyze and, if appropriate, correct any timely allegations of significant ministerial ( printed page 46411) errors by amending the preliminary determination. However, consistent with 19 CFR 351.224(d), following the preliminary determination Commerce will not consider incomplete ministerial error allegations that do not address the significance standard under 19 CFR 351.224(g). Instead, Commerce will address such allegations in the final determination together with issues raised in the case briefs or other written comments.

Verification

As provided in section 782(i)(1) of the Act, Commerce intends to verify the information relied upon in making its final determination.

Public Comment

Case briefs or other written comments may be submitted to the Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance no later than seven days after the date on which the last verification report is issued in this investigation. A timeline for the submission of case briefs and written comments will be issued at a later date. 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.^[11] Interested parties who submit case briefs or rebuttal briefs in this investigation must submit: (1) a table of contents listing each issue; and (2) a table of authorities.^[12]

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.^[13] 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).^[14]

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 the party's name, address, and telephone number, the number of participants, whether any participant is a foreign national, and 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. Parties should confirm by telephone the date, time, and location of the hearing two days before the scheduled date.

U.S. International Trade Commission Notification

In accordance with section 703(f) of the Act, Commerce will notify the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) of its determination. 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 fatty acids from Indonesia are materially injuring, or threaten material injury to, the U.S. industry.

Notification to Interested Parties

This determination is issued and published pursuant to sections 703(f) and 777(i) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.205(c).

Appendix I

Scope of the Investigation

The merchandise subject to this investigation is certain fatty acids, which are organic acids made of a hydrocarbon chain with a carboxylic acid group ( i.e., an organic acid that contains a carboxyl group (-C(=O)-OH) attached to an R-group, sometimes also written as R-COOH, R-C(O)OH, or R-CO₂ H) at one end with a carbon chain length ( i.e., the number of carbon atoms in the fatty acid chain) of C6, C8, C10, C12, C14, C16, or C18, with an iodine value below 105 g/100 g and with a ratio of free fatty acids to triglycerides (also known as the “degree of split” or DoS) of at least 97 percent, including single fatty acid (also referred to as “pure cut”), and blends containing a combination of two or more carbon chain lengths.

Certain fatty acids covered by the scope range in physical form from low viscosity liquids to solids. Certain fatty acids are covered by the scope of this investigation irrespective of whether they have gone through a distillation process and regardless of acid content, reactivity, functionality, freeze stability, heat stability, physical form, viscosity, grade, purity, molecular weight, or packaging.

Certain fatty acids may contain additives, such as catalysts, solvents, antioxidants, fire retardants, colorants, pigments, diluents, thickeners, fillers, softeners, and toughening agents.

The scope includes merchandise matching the above description that has been processed in a third country, including by commingling, diluting, introducing or removing additives, or performing any other processing that would not otherwise remove the merchandise from the scope of the investigation if performed in the subject country.

The scope also includes certain fatty acids that are commingled or blended with certain fatty acids from sources not subject to this investigation. Only the subject component of such commingled products is covered by the scope of this investigation.

Certain fatty acids covered by the scope are also commonly called pure, pure cut, fractionated, or distilled fatty acid or mixed, mixed cut, or blended fatty acid, with the terms pure, pure cut, fractionated, and distilled typically referring to specific single-chain fatty acids that have been separated from a mixed natural source such as animal fat or vegetable oil using processes like hydrolysis (the breakdown of fat molecules by water, catalyzed by acid, base, or enzymes (lipases) to yield glycerol and free fatty acids), distillation, and crystallization, and the terms mixed or mixed cut referring to combinations, blends or mixtures of different single-chain fatty acids also derived from a natural source such as animal fat or vegetable oil using processes like hydrolysis, distillation, and crystallization. Common names for pure, pure cut, fractionated, or distilled fatty acids forms include stearic acid and oleic acid. Common names for mixed or mixed cut fatty acids include coconut fatty acid, hardened coconut fatty acid, topped coconut fatty acid, topped hardened coconut fatty acid, palm kernel fatty acid, hardened palm kernel fatty acid, topped palm kernel fatty acid, topped hardened palm kernel fatty acid, palm fatty acid, palm stearin fatty acid, palm fatty acid distillate, and palm olein fatty acid. Certain fatty acids covered by the scope are normally associated with Chemical Abstracts Service (CAS) registry numbers 57-11-4, 112-80-1, 61790-38-3, 67701-05-7, 67701-06-8, 67707-01-3, 68938-15-8, 101403-98-9, 91771-90-3, 90990-15-1, 68440-15-3, 98106-68-4, 98106-66-2, 90990-08-1, and 90990-08-2 but several others may also be used.

Specifically excluded from the scope are certain fatty acids containing 90 percent or more, by weight, of fatty acids with carbon chain lengths of C6, C8, or C10 (or any combination thereof). The scope also does not include mixtures of certain fatty acids with other materials, when the combined certain fatty acids component comprises less than 80 percent of the total weight of the mixture. ( printed page 46412)

The merchandise is currently classifiable under Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS) subheadings 2915.70.0110, 2915.70.0120, 2915.70.0150, 2915.90.1010, 2915.90.1050, 2916.15.1000, 2916.15.5100, 3823.11.0000, 3823.12.0000, 3823.19.2000, and 3823.19.4000 and may also enter under 3824.99.4190.

The HTSUS subheadings set forth above 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. Injury Test

IV. Diversification of Indonesia's Economy

V. Subsidies Valuation

VI. Benchmarks and Interest Rates

VII. Analysis of Programs

VIII. Recommendation

91 FR 46409