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

<NOTICE> DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE <SUBAGY>International Trade Administration</SUBAGY> <DEPDOC>[C-821-841]</DEPDOC> <SUBJECT>Unwrought Palladium From the Russian Federation: Initiation of Countervailing Duty Investigation</SUBJECT> <HD SOURCE="HED">AGENCY:</HD> Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade Administration, Department of Commerce. <DATES> <HD SOURCE="HED">DATES:</HD> Applicable August 19, 2025. </DATES> <FURINF> <HD SOURCE="HED">FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:</HD> 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. </FURINF> <SUPLINF> <HD SOURCE="HED">SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:</HD> <HD SOURCE="HD1">The Petition</HD> 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. <SU>1</SU> <FTREF/> The CVD Petition was accompanied by an antidumping duty (AD) Petition concerning imports of unwrought palladium from Russia. <SU>2</SU> <FTREF/> <FTNT> <SU>1</SU>   <E T="03">See</E> Petitioners' Letter, “Petitions for the Imposition of Antidumping and Countervailing Duties on Unwrought Palladium from the Russian Federation,” dated July 30, 2025 (Petition). </FTNT> <FTNT> <SU>2</SU>   <E T="03">Id.</E> </FTNT> Between August 1 and 11, 2025, Commerce requested supplemental information pertaining to certain aspects of the Petition in supplemental questionnaires. <SU>3</SU> <FTREF/> Between July 1 and 11, 2025, the petitioners filed timely responses to these requests for additional information. <SU>4</SU> <FTREF/> <FTNT> <SU>3</SU>   <E T="03">See</E> 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); <E T="03">see also</E> Memorandum, “Phone Call with Counsel to the Petitioners,” dated August 11, 2025. </FTNT> <FTNT> <SU>4</SU>   <E T="03">See</E> 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. </FTNT> 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. <SU>5</SU> <FTREF/> <FTNT> <SU>5</SU>   <E T="03">See</E> section on “Determination of Industry Support for the Petition,” <E T="03">infra.</E> </FTNT> <HD SOURCE="HD1">Period of Investigation</HD> Because the Petition was filed on July 30, 2025, the POI is January 1, 2024, through December 31, 2024. <SU>6</SU> <FTREF/> <FTNT> <SU>6</SU>   <E T="03">See</E> 19 CFR 351.204(b)(2). </FTNT> <HD SOURCE="HD1">Scope of the Investigation</HD> The product covered by this investigation is unwrought palladium from Russia. For a full description of the scope of this investigation, <E T="03">see</E> the appendix to this notice. <HD SOURCE="HD1">Comments on the Scope of the Investigation</HD> 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. <SU>7</SU> <FTREF/> On August 6 and 8, 2025, the petitioners provided clarifications and revised the scope. <SU>8</SU> <FTREF/> The description of merchandise covered by this investigation, as described in the appendix to this notice, reflects these clarifications. <FTNT> <SU>7</SU>   <E T="03">See</E> First General Issues Supplemental Questionnaire; <E T="03">see also</E> Second General Issues Supplemental Questionnaire. </FTNT> <FTNT> <SU>8</SU>   <E T="03">See</E> First General Issues Supplement at 1-3 and Exhibit 2; <E T="03">see also</E> Second General Issues Supplement at 1-2 and Exhibit 4. </FTNT> As discussed in the <E T="03">Preamble</E> to Commerce's regulations, we are setting aside a period for interested parties to raise issues regarding product coverage ( <E T="03">i.e.,</E> scope). <SU>9</SU> <FTREF/> 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, <SU>10</SU> <FTREF/> 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. <FTNT> <SU>9</SU>   <E T="03">See Antidumping Duties; Countervailing Duties, Final Rule,</E> 62 FR 27296, 27323 (May 19, 1997) ( <E T="03">Preamble</E> ); <E T="03">see also</E> 19 CFR 351.312. </FTNT> <FTNT> <SU>10</SU>   <E T="03">See</E> 19 CFR 351.102(b)(21) (defining “factual information”). </FTNT> 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. <HD SOURCE="HD1">Filing Requirements</HD> 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. <SU>11</SU> <FTREF/> An electronically filed document must be received successfully in its entirety by the time and date it is due. <FTNT> <SU>11</SU>   <E T="03">See Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Proceedings: Electronic Filing Procedures; Administrative Protective Order Procedures,</E> 76 FR 39263 (July 6, 2011); <E T="03">see also Enforcement and Compliance; Change of Electronic Filing System Name,</E> 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 <E T="03">https://access.trade.gov/help.aspx</E> and a handbook can be found at <E T="03">https://access.trade.gov/help/Handbook_on_Electronic_Filing_Procedures.pdf.</E> </FTNT> <HD SOURCE="HD1">Consultations</HD> 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. <SU>12</SU> <FTREF/> Commerce held consultations with the GOR on August 13, 2025. <SU>13</SU> <FTREF/> <FTNT> <SU>12</SU>   <E T="03">See</E> Commerce's Letter, “Invitation for Consultations to Discuss the Countervailing Duty Petition, ” dated August 1, 2025. </FTNT> <FTNT> <SU>13</SU>   <E T="03">See</E> Memorandum, “Consultations with the Government of Russia,” dated August 13, 2025; <E T="03">see also</E> GOR's Letter, “GOR's Pre-Initiation Comments and Consultation Note,” dated August 15, 2025. </FTNT> <HD SOURCE="HD1">De ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ Preview showing 10k of 32k characters. 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