Tariffs & HTS
U.S. finds critical circumstances for Indian graphite electrodes
Commerce preliminarily found critical circumstances in its countervailing duty investigation of large diameter graphite electrodes from India. For Graphite India Limited (GIL), HEG Limited (HEG) and all other producers and exporters, it intends to have CBP suspend liquidation of unliquidated entries made on or after May 1, 2026, which is 90 days before the July 30, 2026 preliminary CVD determination was published, and to collect cash deposits at that determination's subsidy rates.
What changed
The petitioners, Resonac Graphite America Inc. and Tokai Carbon GE LLC, filed the allegation on September 1, 2026, after the preliminary determination.
Commerce found a reasonable basis to believe that GIL, HEG and all other producers and exporters received export-contingent subsidies inconsistent with the WTO SCM Agreement, including the Advance Authorization Program, the Duty Drawback Program, the Export Promotion of Capital Goods Scheme and Remission of Duties and Taxes on Export Products.
Comparing GIL's and HEG's shipments in the five months before and after the February 24, 2026 petition, it found increases of more than 15 percent for both; because third-party import data were unreliable, the all-others finding rests on an average of the two companies' shipments.
The notice does not restate the subsidy rates or the scope, which are in the July 30 determination. A briefing timeline will be announced later, and the final determination, including critical circumstances, is scheduled for December 7, 2026.
What an import team should check
- List unliquidated entries of large diameter graphite electrodes from India entered or withdrawn from warehouse on or after May 1, 2026, including those made before July 30, 2026.
- Pull the July 30, 2026 preliminary CVD determination to confirm the scope and the deposit rate for GIL, HEG or all others, since this notice does not restate them.
- Ask your customs broker how CBP will collect deposits on the earlier entries, and diary December 7, 2026, when the final determination, including critical circumstances, is scheduled.