Unwrought Palladium From the Russian Federation: Initiation of Countervailing Duty Investigation

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[C-821-841]

Unwrought Palladium From the Russian Federation: Initiation of Countervailing Duty Investigation

AGENCY:

Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade Administration, Department of Commerce.

DATES:

Applicable August 19, 2025.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Kelsie Hohenberger, Office V, AD/CVD Operations, Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-2517.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

The Petition

On July 30, 2025, the U.S. Department of Commerce (Commerce) received a countervailing duty (CVD) Petition concerning imports of unwrought palladium from the Russian Federation (Russia), filed in proper form on behalf of Stillwater Mining Company d/b/a Sibanye-Stillwater and the United Steel Paper, and Forestry, Rubber, Manufacturing, Energy, Industrial and Service Workers International Union, AFL-CIO, CLC (the petitioners), a domestic producer of unwrought palladium and a certified union, which represents workers engaged in the production of unwrought palladium in the United States.

1

The CVD Petition was accompanied by an antidumping duty (AD) Petition concerning imports of unwrought palladium from Russia.

2

1

See

Petitioners' Letter, “Petitions for the Imposition of Antidumping and Countervailing Duties on Unwrought Palladium from the Russian Federation,” dated July 30, 2025 (Petition).

2

Id.

Between August 1 and 11, 2025, Commerce requested supplemental information pertaining to certain aspects of the Petition in supplemental questionnaires.

3

Between July 1 and 11, 2025, the petitioners filed timely responses to these requests for additional information.

4

3

See

Commerce's Letters, “Supplemental Questions,” dated August 1, 2025 (CVD Supplemental Questionnaire); “Supplemental Questions,” dated August 4, 2025 (First General Issues Supplemental Questionnaire); and “Second General Issues Supplemental Questions,” dated August 7, 2025 (Second General Issues Supplemental Questionnaire);

see also

Memorandum, “Phone Call with Counsel to the Petitioners,” dated August 11, 2025.

4

See

Petitioners' Letters, “Petitioners' Response to Commerce's Supplemental Questions,” dated August 5, 2025 (CVD Supplement); “Petitioners' Response to Commerce's Supplemental Questions on General Issues,” dated August 6, 2025 (First General Issues Supplement); “Petitioners' Response to Commerce's Second Supplemental Questions on General Issues,” dated August 8, 2025 (Second General Issues Supplement); and “Additional Certifications for Petitioners' Responses to Commerce's Supplemental Questions,” dated August 11, 2025.

In accordance with section 702(b)(1) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (the Act), the petitioners allege that the Government of Russia (GOR) is providing countervailable subsidies, within the meaning of sections 701 and 771(5) of the Act, to producers of unwrought palladium in Russia, and that such imports are materially injuring, or threatening material injury to, the domestic industry producing unwrought palladium in the United States. Consistent with section 702(b)(1) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.202(b), for those alleged programs on which we are initiating a CVD investigation, the Petition was accompanied by information reasonably available to the petitioners supporting their allegations.

Commerce finds that the petitioners filed the Petition on behalf of the domestic industry, because the petitioners are interested parties, as defined in sections 771(9)(C) and (D) of the Act. Commerce also finds that the petitioners demonstrated sufficient industry support with respect to the initiation of the requested CVD investigation.

5

5

See

section on “Determination of Industry Support for the Petition,”

infra.

Period of Investigation

Because the Petition was filed on July 30, 2025, the POI is January 1, 2024, through December 31, 2024.

6

6

See

19 CFR 351.204(b)(2).

Scope of the Investigation

The product covered by this investigation is unwrought palladium from Russia. For a full description of the scope of this investigation,

see

the appendix to this notice.

Comments on the Scope of the Investigation

On August 4 and 7, 2025, Commerce requested information and clarification from the petitioners regarding the proposed scope to ensure that the scope language in the Petition is an accurate reflection of the products for which the domestic industry is seeking relief.

7

On August 6 and 8, 2025, the petitioners provided clarifications and revised the scope.

8

The description of merchandise covered by this investigation, as described in the appendix to this notice, reflects these clarifications.

7

See

First General Issues Supplemental Questionnaire;

see also

Second General Issues Supplemental Questionnaire.

8

See

First General Issues Supplement at 1-3 and Exhibit 2;

see also

Second General Issues Supplement at 1-2 and Exhibit 4.

As discussed in the

Preamble

to Commerce's regulations, we are setting aside a period for interested parties to raise issues regarding product coverage (

i.e.,

scope).

9

Commerce will consider all scope comments received from interested parties and, if necessary, will consult with interested parties prior to the issuance of the preliminary determination. If scope comments include factual information,

10

all such factual information should be limited to public information. Commerce requests that interested parties provide at the beginning of their scope comments a

public executive summary for each comment or issue raised in their submission. Commerce further requests that interested parties limit their public executive summary of each comment or issue to no more than 450 words, not including citations. Commerce intends to use the public executive summaries as the basis of the comment summaries included in the analysis of scope comments. To facilitate preparation of its questionnaires, Commerce requests that scope comments be submitted by 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time (ET) on September 8, 2025, which is 20 calendar days from the signature date of this notice. Any rebuttal comments must be filed by 5:00 p.m. ET on September 18, 2025, which is 10 calendar days from the initial comment deadline.

9

See Antidumping Duties; Countervailing Duties, Final Rule,

62 FR 27296, 27323 (May 19, 1997) (

Preamble

);

see also

19 CFR 351.312.

10

See

19 CFR 351.102(b)(21) (defining “factual information”).

Commerce requests that any factual information that parties consider relevant to the scope of this investigation be submitted during that period. However, if a party subsequently finds that additional factual information pertaining to the scope of the investigation may be relevant, the party must contact Commerce and request permission to submit the additional information. All scope comments must be filed simultaneously on the records of the concurrent AD and CVD investigations.

Filing Requirements

All submissions to Commerce must be filed electronically via Enforcement and Compliance's Antidumping Duty and Countervailing Duty Centralized Electronic Service System (ACCESS), unless an exception applies.

11

An electronically filed document must be received successfully in its entirety by the time and date it is due.

11

See Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Proceedings: Electronic Filing Procedures; Administrative Protective Order Procedures,

76 FR 39263 (July 6, 2011);

see also Enforcement and Compliance; Change of Electronic Filing System Name,

79 FR 69046 (November 20, 2014), for details of Commerce's electronic filing requirements, effective August 5, 2011. Information on using ACCESS can be found at

https://access.trade.gov/help.aspx

and a handbook can be found at

https://access.trade.gov/help/Handbook_on_Electronic_Filing_Procedures.pdf.

Consultations

Pursuant to sections 702(b)(4)(A)(i) and (ii) of the Act, Commerce notified the GOR of the receipt of the Petition and provided an opportunity for consultations with respect to the Petition.

12

Commerce held consultations with the GOR on August 13, 2025.

13

12

See

Commerce's Letter, “Invitation for Consultations to Discuss the Countervailing Duty Petition, ” dated August 1, 2025.

13

See

Memorandum, “Consultations with the Government of Russia,” dated August 13, 2025;

see also

GOR's Letter, “GOR's Pre-Initiation Comments and Consultation Note,” dated August 15, 2025.

Determination of Industry Support for the Petition

Section 702(b)(1) of the Act requires that a Petition be filed on behalf of the domestic industry. Section 702(c)(4)(A) of the Act provides that a Petition meets this requirement if the domestic producers or workers who support the Petition account for: (i) at least 25 percent of the total production of the domestic like product; and (ii) more than 50 percent of the production of the domestic like product produced by that portion of the industry expressing support for, or opposition to, the Petition. Moreover, section 702(c)(4)(D) of the Act provides that, if the Petition does not establish support of domestic producers or workers accounting for more than 50 percent of the total production of the domestic like product, Commerce shall: (i) poll the industry or rely on other information in order to determine if there is support for the Petition, as required by subparagraph (A); or (ii) determine industry support using a statistically valid sampling method to poll the “industry.”

Section 771(4)(A) of the Act defines the “industry” as the producers as a whole of a domestic like product. Thus, to determine whether a Petition has the requisite industry support, the statute directs Commerce to look to producers and workers who produce the domestic like product. The U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC), which is responsible for determining whether “the domestic industry” has been injured, must also determine what constitutes a domestic like product in order to define the industry. While both Commerce and the ITC apply the same statutory definition regarding the domestic like product,

14

they do so for different purposes and pursuant to a separate and distinct authority. In addition, Commerce's determination is subject to limitations of time and information. Although this may result in different definitions of the like product, such differences do not render the decision of either agency contrary to law.

15

14

See

section 771(10) of the Act.

15

See USEC, Inc.

v.

United States,

132 F. Supp. 2d 1, 8 (CIT 2001) (citing

Algoma Steel Corp., Ltd.

v.

United States,

688 F. Supp. 639, 644 (CIT 1988),

aff'd Algoma Steel Corp., Ltd.

v.

United States,

865 F.2d 240 (Fed. Cir. 1989)).

Section 771(10) of the Act defines the domestic like product as “a product which is like, or in the absence of like, most similar in characteristics and uses with, the article subject to an investigation under this title.” Thus, the reference point from which the domestic like product analysis begins is “the article subject to an investigation” (

i.e.,

the class or kind of merchandise to be investigated, which normally will be the scope as defined in the Petition).

With regard to the domestic like product, the petitioners do not offer a definition of the domestic like product distinct from the scope of the investigation.

16

Based on our analysis of the information submitted on the record, we have determined that unwrought palladium, as defined in the scope, constitutes a single domestic like product, and we have analyzed industry support in terms of that domestic like product.

17

16

For a discussion of the domestic like product analysis as applied to this case and information regarding industry support,

see

Checklist, “Countervailing Duty Investigation Initiation Checklist: Unwrought Palladium from the Russian Federation,” dated concurrently with, and hereby adopted by, this notice (Russia CVD Initiation Checklist), at Attachment II, Analysis of Industry Support for the Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Petitions Covering Unwrought Palladium from the Russian Federation (Attachment II). This checklist is on file electronically via ACCESS.

17

Id.

In determining whether the petitioners have standing under section 702(c)(4)(A) of the Act, we considered the industry support data contained in the Petition with reference to the domestic like product as defined in the “Scope of the Investigation,” in the appendix to this notice. To establish industry support, the petitioners provided the 2024 production of the domestic like product for the U.S. producers that support the Petition and compared this to the total 2024 U.S. production of the domestic like product by the entire U.S. unwrought palladium industry, as reported by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in the 2025 Mineral Commodity Summaries publication.

18

Commerce contacted USGS officials on August 14, 2025, to request clarification regarding the USGS data provided in the Petition and the availability of data on total U.S. refinery production in 2024.

19

During our communications with USGS, USGS referred us to the total U.S. refinery production data in the 2023 Minerals Yearbook, which was published in February 2025 and which contains the most recently available USGS data on total U.S. refinery production.

20

Accordingly, we relied upon the 2023 Minerals Yearbook data and made certain adjustments using historical data in that publication as well as other USGS data provided in the Petition to estimate total 2024 U.S. production of unwrought palladium.

21

We then compared the 2024 production of the domestic like product for the U.S. producers that support the Petition to the estimated total 2024 U.S. production of the domestic like product by the entire U.S. unwrought palladium industry (based on the USGS data described above) for purposes of measuring industry support.

22

18

Id.

19

See

Memorandum, “Teleconference with a Commodity Specialist of the United States Geological Survey,” dated August 15, 2025.

20

Id.

21

For further discussion,

see

Attachment II of the Russia CVD Initiation Checklist.

22

Id.

On August 12, 2025, we received timely filed comments on industry support and a statement of opposition from BASF Metals LLC (BASF), a U.S. producer and importer of unwrought palladium.

23

On August 14, 2025, the petitioners responded to the comments from BASF in a timely filed rebuttal submission.

24

23

See

BASF's Letter, “BASF Metals LLC Comments Regarding Industry Support,” dated August 12, 2025.

24

See

Petitioners' Letter, “Petitioners' Industry Support Rebuttal,” August 14, 2025 (Petitioners' Response).

Our review of the data provided in the Petition, the First General Issues Supplement, the Second General Issues Supplement, the Petitioners' Response, and other information readily available to Commerce indicates that the petitioners have established industry support for the Petition.

25

First, the Petition established support from domestic producers (or workers) accounting for more than 50 percent of the total production of the domestic like product and, as such, Commerce is not required to take further action in order to evaluate industry support (

e.g.,

polling).

26

Second, the domestic producers (or workers) have met the statutory criteria for industry support under section 702(c)(4)(A)(i) of the Act because the domestic producers (or workers) who support the Petition account for at least 25 percent of the total production of the domestic like product.

27

Finally, the domestic producers (or workers) have met the statutory criteria for industry support under section 702(c)(4)(A)(ii) of the Act because the domestic producers (or workers) who support the Petition account for more than 50 percent of the production of the domestic like product produced by that portion of the industry expressing support for, or opposition to, the Petition.

28

Accordingly, Commerce determines that the Petition was filed on behalf of the domestic industry within the meaning of section 702(b)(1) of the Act.

29

25

For further discussion,

see

Attachment II of the Russia CVD Initiation Checklist.

26

Id.; see also

section 702(c)(4)(D) of the Act.

27

See

Attachment II of the Russia CVD Initiation Checklist.

28

Id.

29

Id.

Injury Test

Because Russia is a “Subsidies Agreement Country” within the meaning of section 701(b) of the Act, section 701(a)(2) of the Act applies to this investigation. Accordingly, the ITC must determine whether imports of the subject merchandise from Russia materially injure, or threaten material injury to, a U.S. industry.

Allegations and Evidence of Material Injury and Causation

The petitioners allege that imports of the subject merchandise are benefiting from countervailable subsidies and that such imports are causing, or threaten to cause, material injury to the U.S. industry producing the domestic like product. In addition, the petitioners allege that subject imports from Russia exceed the negligibility threshold provided for under section 771(24)(A) of the Act.

30

30

For further discussion,

see

Russia CVD Initiation Checklist at Attachment III, Analysis of Allegations and Evidence of Material Injury and Causation for the Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Petitions Covering Unwrought Palladium from the Russian Federation.

The petitioners contend that the industry's injured condition is illustrated by a significant increase in the volume of subject imports; underselling and price depression and/or suppression; declines in production and shipments; layoffs; negative impact on financial performance and capital expenditures; and reduced market share.

31

We assessed the allegations and supporting evidence regarding material injury, threat of material injury, causation, as well as negligibility, and we have determined that these allegations are properly supported by adequate evidence, and meet the statutory requirements for initiation.

32

31

Id.

32

Id.

Initiation of CVD Investigation

Based upon the examination of the Petition and supplemental responses, we find that they meet the requirements of section 702 of the Act. Therefore, we are initiating a CVD investigation to determine whether imports of unwrought palladium from Russia benefit from countervailable subsidies conferred by the GOR. In accordance with section 703(b)(1) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.205(b)(1), unless postponed, we will make our preliminary determination no later than 65 days after the date of this initiation.

Based on our review of the Petition, we find that there is sufficient information to initiate a CVD investigation on 34 programs alleged by the petitioners. For a full discussion of the basis for our decision to initiate on each program,

see

the Russia CVD Initiation Checklist. A public version of the initiation checklist for this investigation is available on ACCESS.

Respondent Selection

In the Petition, the petitioners identified four companies in Russia as producers and/or exporters of unwrought palladium.

33

Commerce intends to follow its standard practice in CVD investigations and calculate company-specific subsidy rates in this investigation. In the event that Commerce determines that the number of companies is large and it cannot individually examine each company based on Commerce's resources, Commerce intends to select mandatory respondents based on U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) entry data for U.S. imports under the appropriate Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS) subheading(s) listed in the “Scope of the Investigation” in the appendix.

33

See

Petition at Volume I (page I-10 and Exhibit I-9);

see also

First General Issues Supplement at 1 and Exhibit 1.

On August 15, 2025, Commerce released CBP data on imports of unwrought palladium from Russia under administrative protective order (APO) to all parties with access to information protected by APO and indicated that interested parties wishing to comment on CBP data and/or respondent selection must do so within three business days of the publication date of the notice of initiation of this investigation.

34

Comments must be filed electronically using ACCESS. An electronically filed document must be received successfully in its entirety via ACCESS by 5:00 p.m. ET on the specified deadline. Commerce will not accept rebuttal comments regarding the CBP data or respondent selection.

34

See

Memorandum, “Release of U.S. Customs and Border Protection Entry Data,” dated August 15, 2025.

Interested parties must submit applications for disclosure under APO in accordance with 19 CFR 351.305(b). Instructions for filing such applications may be found on Commerce's website at

https://www.trade.gov/administrative-protective-orders.

Distribution of Copies of the Petition

In accordance with section 702(b)(4)(A) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.202(f), a copy of the public version of the Petition has been provided to the GOR via ACCESS. To the extent practicable, we will attempt to provide a copy of the public version of the Petition to each exporter named in the Petition, as provided under 19 CFR 351.203(c)(2).

ITC Notification

Commerce will notify the ITC of its initiation, as required by section 702(d) of the Act.

Preliminary Determination by the ITC

The ITC will preliminarily determine, within 45 days after the date on which the Petition was filed, whether there is a reasonable indication that imports of unwrought palladium from Russia are materially injuring, or threatening material injury to, a U.S. industry.

35

A negative ITC determination will result in the investigation being terminated.

36

Otherwise, this CVD investigation will proceed according to statutory and regulatory time limits.

35

See

section 703(a)(1) of the Act.

36

Id.

Submission of Factual Information

Factual information is defined in 19 CFR 351.102(b)(21) as: (i) evidence submitted in response to questionnaires; (ii) evidence submitted in support of allegations; (iii) publicly available information to value factors of production under 19 CFR 351.408(c) or to measure the adequacy of remuneration under 19 CFR 351.511(a)(2); (iv) evidence placed on the record by Commerce; and (v) evidence other than factual information described in (i)-(iv). Section 351.301(b) of Commerce's regulations requires any party, when submitting factual information, to specify under which subsection of 19 CFR 351.102(b)(21) the information is being submitted

37

and, if the information is submitted to rebut, clarify, or correct factual information already on the record, to provide an explanation identifying the information already on the record that the factual information seeks to rebut, clarify, or correct.

38

Time limits for the submission of factual information are addressed in 19 CFR 351.301, which provides specific time limits based on the type of factual information being submitted. Interested parties should review the regulations prior to submitting factual information in this investigation.

37

See

19 CFR 351.301(b).

38

See

19 CFR 351.301(b)(2).

Extensions of Time Limits

Parties may request an extension of time limits before the expiration of a time limit established under 19 CFR 351.301, or as otherwise specified by Commerce. In general, an extension request will be considered untimely if it is filed after the expiration of the time limit established under 19 CFR 351.301, or as otherwise specified by Commerce.

39

For submissions that are due from multiple parties simultaneously, an extension request will be considered untimely if it is filed after 10:00 a.m. ET on the due date. Under certain circumstances, Commerce may elect to specify a different time limit by which extension requests will be considered untimely for submissions which are due from multiple parties simultaneously. In such a case, we will inform parties in a letter or memorandum of the deadline (including a specified time) by which extension requests must be filed to be considered timely. An extension request must be made in a separate, standalone submission; under limited circumstances we will grant untimely filed requests for the extension of time limits, where we determine, based on 19 CFR 351.302, that extraordinary circumstances exist. Parties should review Commerce's regulations concerning the extension of time limits and the

Time Limits Final Rule

prior to submitting factual information in this investigation.

40

39

See

19 CFR 351.302.

40

See

19 CFR 351.301;

see also Extension of Time Limits; Final Rule,

78 FR 57790 (September 20, 2013) (

Time Limits Final Rule

), available at

https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2013-09-20/html/2013-22853.htm.

Certification Requirements

Any party submitting factual information in an AD or CVD proceeding must certify to the accuracy and completeness of that information.

41

Parties must use the certification formats provided in 19 CFR 351.303(g).

42

Commerce intends to reject factual submissions if the submitting party does not comply with the applicable certification requirements.

41

See

section 782(b) of the Act.

42

See Certification of Factual Information to Import Administration During Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Proceedings,

78 FR 42678 (July 17, 2013) (

Final Rule

);

see also

frequently asked questions regarding the

Final Rule,

available at

https://enforcement.trade.gov/tlei/notices/factual_info_final_rule_FAQ_07172013.pdf.

Notification to Interested Parties

Interested parties must submit applications for disclosure under APO in accordance with 19 CFR 351.305. Parties wishing to participate in this investigation should ensure that they meet the requirements of 19 CFR 351.103(d) (

e.g.,

by filing the required letters of appearance). Note that Commerce has amended certain of its requirements pertaining to the service of documents in 19 CFR 351.303(f).

43

43

See Administrative Protective Order, Service, and Other Procedures in Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Proceedings,

88 FR 67069 (September 29, 2023).

This notice is issued and published pursuant to sections 702 and 777(i) of the Act, and 19 CFR 351.203(c).

Dated: August 19, 2025.

Abdelali Elouaradia,

Deputy Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance.

Appendix

Scope of the Investigation

The scope of this investigation is unwrought palladium. Unwrought palladium includes palladium, whether or not refined, in the form of ingots, blocks, lumps, billets, cakes, slabs, pigs, cathodes, anodes, briquettes, cubes, sticks, grains, sponge, pellets, shot, powder, and similar primary forms.

Unwrought palladium is covered by the scope regardless of production method. The scope includes unwrought palladium produced through ore extraction, unwrought palladium produced by recycling palladium-containing scrap, unwrought palladium produced by any other method, and blends of unwrought palladium produced by different methods.

The scope includes unwrought palladium that is commingled with unwrought palladium from sources not subject to this investigation or commingled with other metals. Only the subject unwrought palladium component of such commingled products is covered by the scope of this investigation.

Subject merchandise includes merchandise matching the above description that has been finished, packaged, or otherwise processed in a third country, including by refining, grinding, commingling, adding or removing additives (such as other metals), or performing any other finishing, packaging, or processing that would not otherwise remove the merchandise from the scope of the investigation if performed in the subject country.

The covered merchandise is currently classified in the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS) at subheading 7110.21.0000. Unwrought palladium meeting the scope description may also enter under HTSUS subheading 7110.29.0000. Although the HTSUS subheadings are provided for

convenience and for customs purposes, the written description of the subject merchandise is dispositive.

[FR Doc. 2025-16157 Filed 8-21-25; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P