U.S. Senator Steve Daines spoke with the Billings Gazette about President Trump’s new anti-dumping duty that will protect American markets from Russian palladium dumping and help Montana’s Stillwater Mine. Read highlights below.
Laid-off Stillwater miners could return as new federal tariffs hit Russian palladium
Alex Mitchell
February 12th, 2026
Laid-off workers at Sibanye Stillwater mine could be closer to resuming work following a favorable investigation into allegations of an unfair market that was killing business at the mines…
…The Department of Commerce publicly announced a planned implementation of a 132.8% tariff on Russian imports of palladium to counter an assessed flooding of the market, hurting mines in Montana…
…Sen. Steve Daines has been advocating for federal action to address the Russian imports since the layoffs and has brought legislation twice on the issue. In an interview with the Gazette Thursday, he called it “some of the best news in Montana” he’s received in a while.
“This is the outcome we were looking for,” Daines said. “With the news of these duties, it is going to allow us to be competitive again in terms of price, and hopefully that will mean Stillwater is looking at bringing many of these miners back on board.”
He talked about the quality of the jobs and the mine’s impact on the country.
“These are some of the best jobs in Montana in terms of pay and benefits, but importantly, this is a critical supply chain for the nation,” he said. “There’s only three countries in the world that produce palladium. It’s Russia. It’s South Africa, and the great mine we have in Montana.”
…Daines’ past sponsored legislation focused on an outright prohibition of palladium, platinum and other certain critical minerals being imported into the United States as long as Russia is at war with Ukraine. The bills, even with the support of Montana’s Congressional delegation, never passed. He said the tariff, known as a dumping rate or duty, will have some of the same impact he sought previously with legislation…
“We were looking at pulling out all the stops, both in terms of legislative remedies and an executive remedy, to move as quickly as possible to get those miners back to work,” Daines said. “The Russians, as they were dumping their palladium, they’re putting Montana miners out of work. And then with America buying this cheap palladium under market value, we were propping up Putin’s war machine in Ukraine. So, this has a double impact. It’s bringing these Montana miners back to work. It’s also a gut punch back at Putin, who is using these palladium dollars to help fund his war against Ukraine.”
Read the full story in the Billings Gazette HERE.
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Contact: Matt Lloyd, Gabby Wiggins