# 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]
[^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.
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 metal from Laos, within the meaning of section 705(b)(1)(A)(i) of the Act. [^2]
[^2]*See* ITC's Letter, “Notification of ITC Final Determination,” dated April 6, 2026.
**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metal from Laos are materially injuring a U.S. industry, unliquidated entries of such merchandise from Laos entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption, are subject to the assessment of countervailing duties.
[^3]*Id.*
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.
[^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* ).
**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.
[^5]*See* section 706(a)(3) of the Act.
| Company | Subsidy rate |
| --- | --- |
| Lao Silicon Co., Ltd | * 69.10 |
| All Others | 69.10 |
**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.
[^6]*See Preliminary Determination,* 90 FR at 46384.
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]
[^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.*
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 *https://access.trade.gov,* 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]
[^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.
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.
[^11]*See Procedural Guidance,* 86 FR at 53206.
Commerce may update an annual inquiry service list at any time as 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 *https://access.trade.gov.*
**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.
[^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).
**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 *https://www.trade.gov/data-visualization/adcvd-orders-and-suspension-agreements.*
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.