The US Department of Commerce preliminarily determined that silicon metal from Bosnia and Herzegovina and Iceland is being sold in the United States at less than fair value, and instructed US Customs and Border Protection to begin collecting cash deposits from importers. Bosnia and Herzegovina's sole respondent, R-S Silicon d.o.o., and the all-others rate were set at 21.41%; Iceland's sole respondent, PCC Bakki Silicon hf, received 47.54%, with the all-others rate at 37.83%. A concurrent antidumping investigation of silicon metal from Malaysia, initiated on the same 2020-07-27 date, was not part of this preliminary determination and remained pending. The case followed a July 2020 petition by Globe Specialty Metals, Inc. and Mississippi Silicon LLC.

Analyst notesShow

Mechanism

Commerce initiated less-than-fair-value (LTFV) investigations into silicon metal from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Iceland, and Malaysia on 2020-07-27, following a petition from domestic producers Globe Specialty Metals, Inc. and Mississippi Silicon LLC. A companion countervailing-duty investigation also covered Kazakhstan. On 2020-12-11 (announced 2020-12-08), Commerce published affirmative preliminary LTFV determinations for Bosnia and Herzegovina and Iceland only — the sole Bosnian respondent, R-S Silicon d.o.o., and the country-wide all-others rate were set at 21.41%; the sole Icelandic respondent, PCC Bakki Silicon hf, received 47.54%, with Iceland's all-others rate at 37.83%. CBP was instructed to begin suspending liquidation and collecting cash deposits from importers at these rates. Malaysia's LTFV investigation, initiated the same day as Bosnia and Iceland's, ran on a separate schedule and was not resolved by this preliminary determination.

Downstream implications

Bosnia- and Iceland-origin silicon metal faced an immediate cash-deposit

burden of 21.41%–47.54% pending final determination, pushing US buyers toward domestic (Globe Specialty Metals/Ferroglobe, Mississippi Silicon) or third-country supply.

The case previews a recurring US silicon-metal trade-remedy pattern that

recurred in 2025-26 against Angola, Laos, Australia, Norway, and Thailand (see the global-trade-remedy-wave theme) — the same two petitioners repeatedly sought AD/CVD relief against successive low-cost exporters.

Malaysia's parallel investigation should be checked for its own final

antidumping duty order (public reporting indicates one followed in August 2021) — file separately if not already in the register.

Open questions

What were the final (post-preliminary) antidumping margins for Bosnia and

Herzegovina and Iceland, and did critical-circumstances findings apply to either country?

Did the companion Kazakhstan countervailing-duty investigation, and the

separate Malaysia LTFV investigation, result in duty orders, and are those already filed in this register?

Sources

Primary: US Department of Commerce (ITA) press release — preliminary antidumping duty determination

Secondary: Global Trade Alert — state act 65375

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Mechanism

Downstream implications

Bosnia- and Iceland-origin silicon metal faced an immediate cash-deposit

burden of 21.41%–47.54% pending final determination, pushing US buyers toward domestic (Globe Specialty Metals/Ferroglobe, Mississippi Silicon) or third-country supply.

The case previews a recurring US silicon-metal trade-remedy pattern that

Malaysia's parallel investigation should be checked for its own final

antidumping duty order (public reporting indicates one followed in August 2021) — file separately if not already in the register.

Open questions

What were the final (post-preliminary) antidumping margins for Bosnia and

Herzegovina and Iceland, and did critical-circumstances findings apply to either country?

Did the companion Kazakhstan countervailing-duty investigation, and the

separate Malaysia LTFV investigation, result in duty orders, and are those already filed in this register?