SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

On August 22, 2025, based on timely requests for review, in accordance with 19 CFR 351.221(c)(1)(i), we initiated an administrative review of the antidumping duty Order on xanthan gum from the People's Republic of China (China).^[1] On August 25, 2025, CP ( printed page 65172) Kelco Shandong timely withdrew its request for review.^[2] On February 20, 2026, Commerce selected Deosen Biochemical (Ordos) Ltd. (Deosen Ordos) and Neimenggu Fufeng Biotechnologies Co., Ltd. (aka Inner Mongolia Fufeng Biotechnologies Co., Ltd.), Shandong Fufeng Fermentation Co., Ltd./Xinjiang Fufeng Biotechnologies Co., Ltd. (collectively, Fufeng) as the mandatory respondents in this review.^[3] On March 9, 2026, Commerce issued an Intent to Rescind memorandum and invited parties to comment.^[4] No parties commented on the Intent to Rescind Memorandum.

Due to the lapse in appropriations and Federal Government shutdown, on November 14, 2025, Commerce tolled all deadlines in administrative proceedings by 47 days.^[5] Additionally, due to a backlog of documents that were electronically filed via Enforcement and Compliance's Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Centralized Electronic Service System (ACCESS) during the Federal Government shutdown, on November 24, 2025, Commerce tolled all deadlines in administrative proceedings by an additional 21 days.^[6] On April 15, 2026, we extended the preliminary results of this review to September 30, 2026.^[7] On September 25, 2026, we extended the preliminary results of this review to no later than October 7, 2026.^[8]

For a complete description of the events that followed the initiation of this review, see the Preliminary Decision Memorandum.^[9] A list of the topics discussed in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum is attached as an Appendix 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 access.trade.gov. In addition, a complete version of the Preliminary Decision Memorandum can be accessed directly at access.trade.gov/​frnotices.

Scope of the Order

The merchandise covered by the scope of this Order is xanthan gum from China. For a complete description of the scope of the Order, see the Preliminary Decision Memorandum.

Rescission of Administrative Review, in Part

Pursuant to 19 CFR 351.213(d)(1), Commerce will rescind an administrative review, in whole or in part, if a party who requested a review withdraws its request within 90 days of the date of publication of notice of initiation. As noted above, the following company timely withdrew their review request and no other party requested an administrative review of this company: CP Kelco Shandong. Therefore, we are rescinding this administrative review with respect to this company, pursuant to 19 CFR 351.213(d)(1).

Pursuant to 19 CFR 351.213(d)(3), it is Commerce's practice to rescind an administrative review of an antidumping duty order where it concludes that there were no suspended entries of subject merchandise during the POR.^[10] Normally, upon completion of an administrative review, the suspended entries are liquidated at the antidumping duty assessment rate for the review period.^[11] Therefore, for an administrative review to be conducted, there must be a reviewable, suspended entry that Commerce can instruct CBP to liquidate at the calculated antidumping duty assessment rate for the review period.^[12] Commerce notified all interested parties of its intent to rescind the instant review regarding the companies listed below because there were no reviewable, suspended entries of subject merchandise from these companies during the POR and invited interested parties to comment.^[13] Based on our analysis of CBP information and the no-shipment certifications submitted by Deosen Biochemical Ltd., Jilin Meihua Amino Acid Co., Ltd, Meihua Hong Kong,^[14] Commerce preliminarily determines that these companies had no shipments of subject merchandise during the POR.

In the absence of any suspended entries of subject merchandise from these companies during the POR, we are rescinding this administrative review for the companies listed above, in accordance with 19 CFR 351.213(d)(3).

Methodology

Commerce is conducting this review in accordance with section 751(a)(1)(B) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (the Act). Because China is a non-market economy country within the meaning of section 771(18) of the Act, we calculated normal value in accordance with section 773(c) of the Act. For a full description of the methodology underlying our preliminary results, see the Preliminary Decision Memorandum.

Separate Rates

We preliminarily determine that, in addition to Deosen Ordos and Fufeng, one company not individually examined is eligible for separate rate in this administrative review, Jianlong Biotechnology Co. Ltd. (Jianlong).^[15] The Act does not address the establishment of a separate rate for non-examined ( printed page 65173) companies when Commerce limits its examination in an administrative review covering a nonmarket economy pursuant to section 777A(c)(2) of the Act. However, Commerce's regulation at 19 CFR 351.109(g) states that Commerce will determine the separate rate by following the process set forth in 19 CFR 351.109(f)(1)-(2), which generally parallels the process for determining the all-others rate in an investigation under section 735(c)(5) of the Act. Section 735(c)(5)(A) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.109(f) state that for non-examined companies, in general, we will determine an all-others rate by weight averaging the estimated weighted average dumping margins established for each of the individually examined companies, excluding zero and de minimis rates or any rates based entirely on facts available. Accordingly, to determine the rate for non-examined separate rate companies, Commerce's practice is to weight average the weighted-average dumping margins for the selected mandatory respondents, excluding rates that are zero, de minimis, or based entirely on facts available.

For the preliminary results of this administrative review, we calculated rates for Deosen Ordos and Fufeng that are not zero, de minimis, or based entirely on facts available. Therefore, the rates of Deosen Ordos and Fufeng are applicable to Jianlong, the company not selected for individual examination but eligible for a separate rate. Accordingly, for the preliminary results, we are assigning to Jianlong an estimated weighted-average dumping margin based on the average of the two individually examined respondents' rates weighted by their publicly available ranged U.S. sales values.^[16]

The China-Wide Entity

Commerce's policy regarding conditional review of the China-wide entity applies to this administrative review.^[17] Under this policy, the China-wide entity will not be under review unless a party specifically requests, or Commerce self-initiates, a review of the entity. Because no party requested a review of the China-wide entity, the entity is not under review, and the entity's rate ( i.e., 154.07 percent) ^[18] is not subject to change.

Preliminary Results of Review

Commerce preliminarily determines that the following weighted-average dumping margins exist for the period July 1, 2024, through June 30, 2025:

Disclosure

Commerce intends to disclose its calculations performed to interested parties for these preliminary results 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 accordance with 19 CFR 351.224(b).

Public Comment

Case briefs or other written comments may be submitted to the Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance. Pursuant to 19 CFR 351.309(c)(1)(ii), we have modified the deadline for interested parties to submit case briefs to Commerce to no later than 21 days after the date of the publication of this notice.^[20] 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.^[21] 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.^[22]

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.^[23] Further, we request that interested parties limit their public, executive summary of each issue to no more than 450 words, not including citations. We intend to use the public, executive summaries as the basis of the comment summaries included in the issues and decision memorandum that will accompany the final results in this administrative review. We request that interested parties include footnotes for relevant citations in the public, 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).^[24]

Pursuant to 19 CFR 351.310(c), interested parties who wish to request a hearing must submit a written request to the Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance, filed electronically via ACCESS by 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time 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 (3) a list of issues to be discussed. Oral presentations at the hearing will be limited to issues raised in the briefs. If a request for a hearing is made, ( printed page 65174) Commerce will inform parties of the scheduled date for the hearing.^[25]

Assessment Rates

Pursuant to section 751(a)(2)(A) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.212(b)(1), Commerce will determine, and CBP shall assess, antidumping duties on all appropriate entries of subject merchandise in accordance with the final results of this review.

If Deosen Ordos and Fufeng's weighted-average dumping margin is not zero or de minimis ( i.e., less than 0.50 percent) in the final results of this review, Commerce intends to calculate importer-specific assessment rates on the basis of the ratio of the total amount of dumping calculated for each importer's examined sales to the total entered value of those sales. Where we do not have entered values for all U.S. sales to a particular importer, we will calculate an importer-specific, per-unit assessment rate on the basis of the ratio of the total amount of dumping calculated for the importer's examined sales to the total quantity of those sales.^[26] To determine whether an importer-specific, per-unit assessment rate is de minimis, in accordance with 19 CFR 351.106(c)(2), we also will calculate an importer-specific ad valorem ratio based on estimated entered values. If Deosen Ordos and Fufeng's weighted-average dumping margin is zero or de minimis or where an importer-specific ad valorem assessment rate is zero or de minimis, we will instruct CBP to liquidate appropriate entries without regard to antidumping duties.^[27]

For the respondents that were not selected for individual examination in this administrative review but qualified for a separate rate, the assessment rate will be equal to the weighted-average dumping margins calculated for the mandatory respondents consistent with section 735(c)(5)(B) of the Act. Consequently, the rate established for the non-individually examined companies is an ad valorem rate of 56.21 percent.

For entries that were not reported in the U.S. sales database submitted by the mandatory respondents during this review, Commerce will instruct CBP to liquidate such entries at the China-wide rate.

For the companies listed above for which the review is being rescinded, Commerce will instruct CBP to assess antidumping duties on all appropriate entries. Antidumping duties shall be assessed at rates equal to the cash deposit rate for estimated antidumping duties required at the time of entry, or withdrawal from warehouse, for consumption, in accordance with 19 CFR 351.212(c)(1)(i). Commerce intends to issue rescission instructions to CBP no earlier than 35 days after the date of publication of this notice in the Federal Register .

The final results of this review shall be the basis for the assessment of antidumping duties on entries of merchandise covered by the final results of this review and for future deposits of estimated duties, where applicable.

If a timely summons is filed at the U.S. Court of International Trade, the assessment instructions will direct CBP not to liquidate relevant entries until the time for parties to file a request for a statutory injunction has expired ( i.e., within 90 days of publication).

Cash Deposit Requirements

The following cash deposit requirements will be effective upon publication of the final results of this administrative review for shipments of the subject merchandise from China entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or after the publication date, as provided by sections 751(a)(2)(C) of the Act: (1) for the companies listed above, which have a separate rate, the cash deposit rate will be that established in the final results of this review (except, if the rate is zero or de minimis, then zero cash deposit will be required); (2) for previously investigated or reviewed Chinese and non-Chinese exporters not listed above that received a separate rate in a prior segment of this proceeding, the cash deposit rate will continue to be the existing exporter-specific rate; (3) for all Chinese exporters of subject merchandise that have not been found to be entitled to a separate rate, the cash deposit rate will be the existing rate for the China-wide entity of 154.07 percent; and (4) for all non-Chinese exporters of subject merchandise which have not received their own rate, the cash deposit rate will be the rate applicable to the Chinese exporter that supplied that non-Chinese exporter. These deposit requirements, when imposed, shall remain in effect until further notice.

Notification to Importers

This notice also serves as a preliminary reminder to importers of their responsibility under 19 CFR 351.402(f) to file a certificate regarding the reimbursement of antidumping duties prior to liquidation of the relevant entries during this review period. Failure to comply with this requirement could result in Commerce's presumption that reimbursement of antidumping duties occurred and the subsequent assessment of double antidumping duties.

Notification to Interested Parties

We are issuing and publishing these preliminary results of review in accordance with sections 751(a)(1) and 777(i)(1) of the Act, and 19 CFR 351.213(d)(4) and 19 CFR 351.221(b)(4).

Appendix

List of Topics Discussed in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum

I. Summary

II. Background

III. Scope of the Order

IV. Application of Facts Available and Use of Adverse Inferences

V. Rescission of Review, in Part

VI. Single Entity Treatment

VII. Discussion of the Methodology

VIII. Currency Conversion

IX. Recommendation

91 FR 65171