Following Pressure from Tester, Biden Administration Will Apply Tax Credit to American Mining to Help Workers at Sibanye-Stillwater 

Decision comes after Senator’s sustained pressure on Treasury Secretary, urging the Department to put American workers first and apply 45X tax credit to American mining

As a result of U.S. Senator Jon Tester’s relentless pressure and continued efforts to support workers impacted by layoffs at Montana’s Sibanye-Stillwater mine, the Biden Administration today announced they will apply a manufacturing tax credit to American mining and the production of domestic minerals. The Administration’s announcement follows months of pressure from Tester, including his most recent letter to Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen, urging the Department to follow Congressional intent as written in the Inflation Reduction Act and apply the 45X Advanced Manufacturing Production Credit to the production and recycling of critical minerals.    

“The Montanans working at the Stillwater mine are the best in the business and I had the honor of sitting down with many of them recently in Columbus to get their input on how best to support them,” Tester wrote. “Bolstering domestic mining will not only boost our economy – it will strengthen our supply chains and our national security. I’m glad to see the Administration is listening to our calls to ensure American mines like the one in Stillwater receive additional support and keep more Montanans in their jobs.”

“We are thrilled to see the Treasury Department recognize the importance of securing our domestic critical minerals supply chains in this final version of 45X,” said Heather McDowell, Vice President, Legal and External Affairs, Americas, Sibanye-Stillwater. “As the only domestic primary producer of platinum and palladium on scale, we are committed to responsibly mining and recycling under our robust US environmental, safety, and human rights laws and with a unionized and well-paid workforce. We know that continuing to produce US commodities in a global market will require recognition that doing it the right way has a cost, but that cost is worth it to get things right for our people and our environment. We are especially grateful to Montana’s Senator Jon Tester for his perseverance in ensuring this rule is right for Montana and for the US.  The global palladium market has hit us hard over the last 18 months. Being able to claim a tax credit on our mining and recycling costs is an important step in stabilizing our operations so that we can continue to invest in sustainable critical minerals production for the US market.”

Within hours of Sibanye-Stillwater’s announcement that they would be undergoing a restructuring due to Russian dumping of palladium into the American market, Tester personally spoke with Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo and pressed him on the need for the Biden Administration to support the impacted workers. Tester also introduced a bill to ban Russian importation of palladium and other critical minerals indefinitely.

Last month, Tester also urged the Biden Administration to provide federal assistance to miners and communities impacted by the layoffs. In a letter to Acting Secretary of Labor Julie Su, Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, and Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo, Tester urged the Departments to maximize the availability of federal initiatives designed to support those affected by the layoffs.

And earlier this month, Tester met with Montanans impacted by the layoffs at the Sibanye-Stillwater mine in Columbus, Montana. Following the meeting, Tester sent a letter to Acting Secretary of Labor Julie Su, continuing to urge the agency to approve federal resources for employment and training services for local workforce affected by layoffs.

Tester has long fought to rebuild domestic manufacturing and onshore supply chains to reduce America’s dependence on foreign adversaries like China and Russia. In February, Tester sent a letter to Secretary Yellen expressing concerns that domestic critical mineral production at places like Sibanye-Stillwater was being curbed by reliance on foreign adversaries like China.

Watch Tester’s full statement on the Sibanye-Stillwater mine layoffs HERE.