New Antidumping Duty and Countervailing Duty Petition on Silicon Metal from Angola, Australia, Laos, Norway and Thailand

Introduction

On April 24, 2025, Ferroglobe USA Inc. and Mississippi Silicon Inc., domestic producers of silicon metal, filed a petition with the U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC) and the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) seeking the imposition of antidumping duties (AD) on silicon metal that is imported from the Republic of Angola (Angola), Australia, the Lao People’s Democratic Republic (Laos) and Norway, and the imposition of countervailing duties (CVD) on silicon metal that is imported from Australia, Laos, Norway and the Kingdom of Thailand (Thailand). The ITC instituted the investigations on April 24, 2025.

According to the petitioners, imports of the covered merchandise into the United States from the identified countries have increased over the past few years, reaching 17,277 MT in calendar year 2023 and 38,768 MT in calendar year 2024.

Under U.S. law, a domestic industry (including workers in said industry) may petition the government to initiate an AD investigation into the pricing of an imported product to determine whether it is sold in the United States at less than fair value (i.e., “dumped”). A domestic industry may also petition for the initiation of an investigation of alleged countervailable subsidies provided by a foreign government to producers and exporters of the covered merchandise. DOC will impose ADs or CVDs on a product if it determines that imported goods are dumped and/or subsidized, and if the ITC also determines that the domestic industry is materially injured or threatened with such injury by reason of imports of that product.

If the ITC and DOC make preliminary affirmative determinations, U.S. importers will be required to post cash deposits in the amount of the AD and/or CVD rates calculated by DOC for all entries of subject merchandise entered on or after the date of publication of DOC’s preliminary determinations. The preliminary AD/CVD rates can change in the final DOC determinations, following further factual investigation, verification and briefing.

DOC has previously conducted numerous AD/CVD investigations into silicon metal from other countries. There are currently AD orders on silicon metal from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Iceland, and Malaysia (in place since 2021), Russia (in place since 2003), and China (in place since 1991), and a CVD order on silicon metal from Kazakhstan that (in place since 2021). In 2018, the ITC made negative material injury determinations with regard to silicon metal from Australia, Brazil, Kazakhstan and Norway.

Scope

Petitioners have requested the following product scope for the investigations:

The scope of this investigation covers all forms and sizes of silicon metal, including silicon metal powder. Silicon metal contains at least 85.00 percent but less than 99.99 percent silicon, and less than 4.00 percent iron, by actual weight. Semiconductor grade silicon (merchandise containing at least 99.99 percent silicon by actual weight and classifiable under Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS) subheading 2804.61.0000) is excluded from the scope of this investigation.

Silicon metal is currently classifiable under subheadings 2804.69.1000 and 2804.69.5000 of the HTSUS. While the HTSUS numbers are provided for convenience and customs purposes, the written description of the scope remains dispositive.

Foreign Producers and Exporters of Subject Merchandise

A list of foreign producers and exporters of silicon metal, as identified in the petition, is provided in Attachment 1.

U.S. Importers of Subject Merchandise

A list of U.S. importers of silicon metal, as identified in the petition, is provided in Attachment 2.

Alleged Margins of Dumping

Petitioners alleged the following dumping margins for products from the identified countries:

• Angola: 67.78% – 323.84%
• Australia: 337.84%
• Laos: 92% – 304.51%
• Norway: 69.15%

DOC generally assigns duties at these alleged dumping rates to exporters that fail to cooperate with its investigations.

No specific subsidy rates are included in the petition.

Potential Trade Impact

According to official U.S. import statistics, a total of 146,001 MT of silicon metal was imported into the United States in calendar year 2024, with imports from the identified countries making up approximately 27% of all silicon metal imported into the United States. As a result, the petition could potentially lead to the imposition of additional duties on roughly a quarter of U.S. imports of subject merchandise. The petition did not include imports from Brazil or Canada, the two largest exporters of silicon metal to the United States in 2022, 2023 and 2024.

Estimated Schedule of Investigations

04/24/2025     Petition filed.

06/09/2025     ITC preliminary injury determination.

09/22/2025     DOC preliminary CVD determinations, if fully postponed.

11/20/2025       DOC preliminary AD determinations, if fully postponed.

04/13/2026      DOC final AD and CVD determinations, if both preliminary and final determinations are fully postponed.

05/28/2026     ITC final injury determination, if DOC’s determinations are fully postponed.

06/04/2026     AD/CVD orders published.