In a move that signals growing industry coordination around trade and safety issues, stone industry leaders — including representatives from ISFA, the Natural Stone Institute, and major U.S. fabricators — attended a U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) proceeding addressing quartz surface imports and AD/CVD duty orders. The hearing is part of the ITC’s five-year (sunset) review of existing antidumping and countervailing duty orders on quartz surface products from China and other countries.

What’s at Stake in the Sunset Review

The ITC’s five-year (“sunset”) review process examines whether revoking existing AD/CVD orders would likely lead to a continuation or recurrence of material injury to the domestic industry. Key factors the ITC considers:

• Whether dumping and subsidisation are likely to continue if orders are revoked
• The condition of the U.S. quartz surface industry since duties were imposed
• Whether imports would likely increase and at what price levels
• Capacity, production, and export trends in subject countries (primarily China and India)

Industry’s Message: Safety and Compliance First

According to reports from the hearing, the stone fabrication industry’s message to the ITC centered on two themes:

1. Silica safety compliance should be a condition of market access. Industry representatives argued that quartz surface imports should be held to the same safety and silica content standards increasingly required of domestic products, particularly as Cal/OSHA and federal OSHA standards evolve.
2. A level playing field supports the silica-free transition. Domestic fabricators investing in silica-free tooling, worker health programs, and compliance documentation are at a competitive disadvantage if imported products face no equivalent scrutiny. The ITC proceeding became a platform for connecting trade policy with worker safety — a link that, five years ago, barely existed in stone industry discourse.

Implications for Buyers and Importers

If the ITC extends AD/CVD orders:

• Import costs remain elevated — U.S. buyers sourcing from China and India continue paying substantial duties on quartz surfaces, increasing the incentive to diversify supply chains to Vietnam, Thailand, Turkey, or other non-subject countries
• Silica-free products gain relative advantage — Zero-silica engineered stone from non-subject countries can compete more effectively on price when traditional quartz faces duties
• Compliance documentation becomes a differentiator — Importers who can demonstrate silica-free certification, independent lab testing, and regulatory compliance documentation have an edge in the U.S. market

If the ITC allows orders to expire:

• Chinese quartz imports become more price-competitive — Potentially disrupting the domestic quartz surface market and silica-free alternatives that have gained share during the duty period
• Silica safety scrutiny may intensify through other channels — Despite trade relief, OSHA, Cal/OSHA, and state-level silica regulations would continue to apply, creating a “regulatory floor” that imported products must still meet

The ITC vote is expected in late 2026. We’ll continue tracking this as it develops.

For a guide to navigating U.S. quartz import duties, see our SilicaFree Surfaces sourcing resources for detailed HTS code guidance, AD/CVD rate tables, and landed cost modeling tools.