Home > Top Story Archive >May 28, 2009
Top Story
The following story is from the May 28 issue of International
Trade Reporter
Current Reports:
Dumping
Uranium Enricher Settles Claims
Relating to 2002 Antidumping Order
USEC Inc. and AREVA May 18 announced the settlement of several pending appeals and administrative proceedings arising from a 2002 Commerce Department antidumping order on imports of French low-enriched uranium, which resulted in the first U.S. Supreme Court opinion on the antidumping statute earlier this year.
The parties to the settlement are USEC Inc. and its subsidiary, United States Enrichment Corporation, and Eurodif S.A. and its affiliates, AREVA NC and AREVA NC Inc., according to a USEC press release.
The parties agreed to immediately withdraw or request dismissal of all pending appeals and Commerce proceedings related to the 2002 order. All pending litigation and administrative proceedings regarding the 2002 antidumping duty order are expected to end under the settlement. The antidumping order is expected to remain in place until at least the next five-year sunset review in 2012.
Supreme Court Case
The litigation surrounding the order had previously been focused on the question of whether French low-enriched uranium
(LEU) sold under separate work unit (SWU) was a sale of services outside the scope of the U.S. antidumping law.
The U.S. Supreme Court—in United States v. Eurodif S.A.; USEC Inc. v. Eurodif—early this year agreed with the U.S. government and USEC in finding that Commerce had reasonably concluded that such sales were sales of merchandise
under the antidumping law (26 ITR 140, 1/29/09) (30 ITRD 1801).
Under the antidumping statute, 19 U.S.C. §
1673 or Section 731, Commerce may impose antidumping duties on imports of foreign goods when the merchandise is “being, or is likely to be, sold in the United States at less than its fair value”
and the less than fair value sales—a practice called dumping—are materially injuring or threatening material injury to the U.S. industry. The antidumping statute does not extend to sales of services.
Despite the Supreme Court ruling, a number of other issues were subject to appeals expected to continue for several more years. USEC anticipated at least three to five more years of significant litigation and uncertainty regarding the application of the antidumping order to imports of French LEU since a ruling unfavorable to USEC could have led to the order's termination, according to the press release.
‘Resource Drain.'
USEC Inc., a global energy company, is a leading supplier of enriched uranium fuel for commercial nuclear power plants.
“It is now time to put seven years of litigation behind us and move forward,” Peter Saba, senior vice president, general counsel and secretary of USEC Inc, said in the press release.
The settlement “eliminates any further resource drain this case may have on both companies and is a positive step for both companies, their workers, their customers and their shareholders,” he added.
USEC is expected to realize approximately $70 million (before taxes) from estimated duties deposited by Eurodif S.A. or its affiliates under the settlement. The funds are expected to be received no earlier than the fourth quarter of this year under the Byrd Amendment, which returns duties in antidumping cases to affected domestic producers. While the Byrd Amendment was repealed effective October 2007, domestic producers affected by the dumping may seek recoveries from antidumping duties collected on covered imports through September 2007.
The settlement also contemplates a purchase of separative work units (SWU) by Eurodif from USEC in 2009 and 2010, the press release stated.
By Rossella Brevetti
Contact the Webmaster at webmaster@bna.com
1801 S. Bell Street, Arlington, VA 22202 - Phone: 1-800-372-1033
Copyright © The Bureau of National Affairs, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
