Arabic version: سيمكوا تنسحب من السوق الأميركية بعد رسوم جمركية جديدة

According to ABC News, Australia’s only silicon manufacturer, Simcoa, will leave the United States market on August 14 after an additional tariff of roughly 40 per cent was imposed on its silicon-metal exports.

Simcoa vice-president David Miles said the company’s remaining US warehouse stock was largely pre-sold and that it would not return to the market. He said the tariff made continued business in the country untenable.

The move follows a United States International Trade Commission ruling that imports of silicon metal from Australia and Norway were materially injuring a US industry. The commission said the products were subsidised and sold at less than fair value, while the US Department of Commerce found a 6.16 per cent dumping margin and a 32.57 per cent countervailing duty rate against Simcoa Operations.

Miles rejected the claim that Simcoa was selling below fair value. He said the company would seek alternative customers in South-East Asia and India, while continuing to supply Europe. Simcoa Operations Pty Ltd is wholly owned by Japanese company Shin-Etsu Chemical.

Federal Resources Minister Madeleine King said the Australian government would raise the issue with the Trump administration and use trade envoys to help Simcoa find markets. She said the tariff would not undermine Australia’s critical minerals agreement with the United States.