The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has reversed key determinations made by the US Department of Commerce in its trade investigation of low-enriched uranium (LEU) imports from France.
According to USEC, over the past four years, the US government’s trade experts have determined on multiple occasions that the sale and purchase of LEU is subject to US antidumping and countervailing duty law, but the Appeals Court has determined differently
USEC senior vice president Philip G Sewell said “We are disappointed that the court has rejected several determinations made by both the Commerce Department and US International Trade Commission.”
The court’s decision does not immediately impact the US government’s collection of countervailing and antidumping duty deposits on LEU imports from France, which will continue pending the resolution of other issues that will have to be addressed by the US Court of International Trade
The US Department of Commerce, conducting an administrative review of the antidumping duty order on LEU from France in response to requests by USEC Inc and by Eurodif and Cogema, had determined that US sales have been made below normal value.
On 13 February, 2002, the Department published the antidumping duty order on LEU from France and on 26 March, 2004, began an administrative review of the antidumping order. Electricity is considered a major input into the production of LEU and Eurodif obtained its electricity from its affiliated supplier, Electricité de France (EdF). On 9 June, 2004, USEC alleged that Eurodif purchased electricity from EdF at prices less than the cost of production.
