Notice2026-07466
Silicon Metal From the Lao People's Democratic Republic: Countervailing Duty Order
Primary source
Metadata and text below are from the Federal Register, a public-domain U.S. government work. Always verify the official published version before relying on it for any legal matter.
Published
April 16, 2026
Issuing agencies
Commerce DepartmentInternational Trade Administration
Abstract
Based on affirmative final determinations by the U.S. Department of Commerce (Commerce) and U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC), Commerce is issuing a countervailing duty (CVD) order on silicon metal from the Lao People's Democratic Republic (Laos).
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 91 Issue 73 (Thursday, April 16, 2026)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 91, Number 73 (Thursday, April 16, 2026)]
[Notices]
[Pages 20403-20405]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2026-07466]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
International Trade Administration
[C-553-002]
Silicon Metal From the Lao People's Democratic Republic:
Countervailing Duty Order
AGENCY: Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade Administration,
Department of Commerce.
SUMMARY: Based on affirmative final determinations by the U.S.
Department of Commerce (Commerce) and U.S. International Trade
Commission (ITC), Commerce is issuing a countervailing duty (CVD) order
on silicon metal from the Lao People's Democratic Republic (Laos).
DATES: Applicable April 16, 2026.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Shane Subler or Laurel Smalley, AD/CVD
Operations, Office VIII, Enforcement and Compliance, International
Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution
Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-6241 or (202)
482-3456, respectively.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
In accordance with sections 705(d) and 777(i) of the Tariff Act of
1930, as amended (the Act), on February 23, 2026, Commerce published in
the Federal Register its affirmative final determination that
countervailable subsidies are being provided to producers and exporters
of silicon metal from Laos.\1\
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\1\ See Silicon Metal from the Lao People's Democratic Republic:
Final Affirmative Countervailing Duty Determination, 91 FR 8425
(February 23, 2026) (Final Determination), and accompanying Issues
and Decision Memorandum.
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On April 6, 2026, pursuant to section 705(d) of the Act, the ITC
notified Commerce of its final affirmative determination that an
industry in the United States is materially injured by reason of
subsidized imports of silicon
[[Page 20404]]
metal from Laos, within the meaning of section 705(b)(1)(A)(i) of the
Act.\2\
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\2\ See ITC's Letter, ``Notification of ITC Final
Determination,'' dated April 6, 2026.
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Scope of the Order
The product covered by this order is silicon metal from Laos. For a
complete description of the scope of the order, see the appendix to
this notice.
Order
Based on the ITC's affirmative final determination that an industry
in the United States is materially injured within the meaning of
section 705(b)(1)(A)(i) of the Act by reason of subsidized imports of
silicon metal from Laos,\3\ in accordance with section 705(c)(2) of the
Act, Commerce is issuing this CVD order. Moreover, because the ITC
determined that imports of silicon metal from Laos are materially
injuring a U.S. industry, unliquidated entries of such merchandise from
Laos entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption, are subject
to the assessment of countervailing duties.
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\3\ Id.
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Therefore, in accordance with section 706(a) of the Act, Commerce
will direct U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to assess, upon
further instruction by Commerce, countervailing duties on all relevant
entries of silicon metal from Laos, which are entered, or withdrawn
from warehouse, for consumption, on or after September 26, 2025, the
date of publication of the Preliminary Determination,\4\ but will not
include entries occurring after the expiration of the provisional
measures period and before the publication of the ITC's final injury
determination under section 705(b) of the Act, as further described in
the ``Provisional Measures'' section of this notice.
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\4\ See Silicon Metal From the Lao People's Democratic Republic:
Preliminary Affirmative Countervailing Duty Determination and
Alignment of Final Determination With Final Antidumping Duty
Determination, 90 FR 46384 (September 26, 2025) (Preliminary
Determination).
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Suspension of Liquidation and Cash Deposits
In accordance with section 706 of the Act, Commerce intends to
instruct CBP to reinstitute the suspension of liquidation of silicon
metal from Laos, effective on the date of publication of the ITC's
final affirmative injury determination in the Federal Register. These
instructions suspending liquidation will remain in effect until further
notice.
Commerce also intends, pursuant to section 706(a)(1) of the Act, to
instruct CBP to require cash deposits equal to the amounts as indicated
below. Accordingly, effective on the date of publication of the ITC's
final affirmative injury determination in the Federal Register, CBP
will require, at the same time as importers would normally deposit
estimated customs duties on the subject merchandise, a cash deposit for
each entry of subject merchandise equal to the subsidy rates listed
below.\5\ The all-others rate applies to all producers or exporters not
specifically listed below, as appropriate.
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\5\ See section 706(a)(3) of the Act.
Estimated Countervailable Subsidy Rates
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Subsidy rate
Company (percent ad
valorem)
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Lao Silicon Co., Ltd.................................... * 69.10
All Others.............................................. 69.10
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* This rate is based on facts available with adverse inferences.
Provisional Measures
Section 703(d) of the Act states that the suspension of liquidation
pursuant to an affirmative preliminary determination may not remain in
effect for more than four months. Commerce published the Preliminary
Determination on September 26, 2025.\6\ As such, the four-month period
beginning on the date of the publication of the Preliminary
Determinations ended on January 23, 2026.
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\6\ See Preliminary Determination, 90 FR at 46384.
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Therefore, in accordance with section 703(d) of the Act, we
instructed CBP to terminate the suspension of liquidation and to
liquidate, without regard to countervailing duties, unliquidated
entries of silicon metal from Laos entered, or withdrawn from
warehouse, for consumption, on or after January 24, 2026, the date on
which the provisional measures expired, until and through the day
preceding the date of publication of the ITC's final injury
determination in the Federal Register. Suspension of liquidation and
the collection of cash deposits will resume on the date of publication
of the ITC's final determination in the Federal Register.
Establishment of Annual Inquiry Service Lists
On September 20, 2021, Commerce published the Final Rule in the
Federal Register.\7\ On September 27, 2021, Commerce also published the
Procedural Guidance in the Federal Register.\8\ The Final Rule and
Procedural Guidance provide that Commerce will maintain an annual
inquiry service list for each order or suspended investigation, and any
interested party submitting a scope ruling application or request for
circumvention inquiry shall serve a copy of the application or request
on the persons on the annual inquiry service list for that order, as
well as any companion order covering the same merchandise from the same
country of origin.\9\
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\7\ See Regulations to Improve Administration and Enforcement of
Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Laws, 86 FR 52300 (September 20,
2021) (Final Rule).
\8\ See Scope Ruling Application; Annual Inquiry Service List;
and Informational Sessions, 86 FR 53205 (September 27, 2021)
(Procedural Guidance).
\9\ Id.
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In accordance with the Procedural Guidance, for orders published in
the Federal Register after November 4, 2021, Commerce will create an
annual inquiry service list segment in Commerce's online e-filing and
document management system, Antidumping and Countervailing Duty
Electronic Service System (ACCESS), available at <a href="https://access.trade.gov">https://access.trade.gov</a>, within five business days of publication of the
notice of the order. Each annual inquiry service list will be saved in
ACCESS, under each case number, and under a specific segment type
called ``AISL-Annual Inquiry Service List.'' \10\
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\10\ This segment will be combined with the ACCESS Segment
Specific Information (SSI) field which will display the month in
which the notice of the order or suspended investigation was
published in the Federal Register, also known as the anniversary
month. For example, for an order under case number A-000-000 that
was published in the Federal Register in January, the relevant
segment and SSI combination will appear in ACCESS as ``AISL-January
Anniversary.'' Note that there will be only one annual inquiry
service list segment per case number, and the anniversary month will
be pre-populated in ACCESS.
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Interested parties who wish to be added to the annual inquiry
service list for an order must submit an entry of appearance to the
annual inquiry service list segment for the order in ACCESS within 30
days after the date of publication of the order. For ease of
administration, Commerce requests that law firms with more than one
attorney representing interested parties in an order designate a lead
attorney to be included on the annual inquiry service list. Commerce
will finalize the annual inquiry service list within five business days
thereafter. As mentioned in the Procedural Guidance,\11\ the new annual
inquiry service list will be in place until the following year, when
the Opportunity Notice for the anniversary month of the order is
published.
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\11\ See Procedural Guidance, 86 FR at 53206.
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Commerce may update an annual inquiry service list at any time as
[[Page 20405]]
needed based on interested parties' amendments to their entries of
appearance to remove or otherwise modify their list of members and
representatives, or to update contact information. Any changes or
announcements pertaining to these procedures will be posted to the
ACCESS website at <a href="https://access.trade.gov">https://access.trade.gov</a>.
Special Instructions for the Petitioners and Foreign Governments
In the Final Rule, Commerce stated that, ``after an initial request
and placement on the annual inquiry service list, both petitioners and
foreign governments will automatically be placed on the annual inquiry
service list in the years that follow.'' \12\ Accordingly, as stated
above, the petitioners \13\ and the Government of Laos (GOL) should
submit their initial entries of appearance after publication of this
notice in order to appear in the first annual inquiry service list for
this order. Pursuant to 19 CFR 351.225(n)(3), the petitioners and the
GOL will not need to resubmit their entries of appearance each year to
continue to be included on the annual inquiry service list. However,
the petitioners and the GOL are responsible for making amendments to
their entries of appearance during the annual update to the annual
inquiry service list in accordance with the procedures described above.
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\12\ See Final Rule, 86 FR at 52335.
\13\ The petitioners in this proceeding are Ferroglobe USA, Inc.
and Mississippi Silicon LLC (collectively, the petitioners).
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Notification to Interested Parties
This notice constitutes the CVD order with respect to silicon metal
from Laos, pursuant to section 706(a) of the Act. Interested parties
can find a list of antidumping duty and CVD orders currently in effect
at <a href="https://www.trade.gov/data-visualization/adcvd-orders-and-suspension-agreements">https://www.trade.gov/data-visualization/adcvd-orders-and-suspension-agreements</a>.
This CVD order is issued and published in accordance with section
706(a) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.211(b).
Dated: April 13, 2026.
Christopher Abbott,
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy and Negotiations, performing the
non-exclusive functions and duties of the Assistant Secretary for
Enforcement and Compliance.
Appendix
Scope of the Order
The scope of this order 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 order.
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.
[FR Doc. 2026-07466 Filed 4-15-26; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P
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</html>Indexed from Federal Register on April 16, 2026.
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