"Today's decision is another step toward restoring fair pricing in the U.S. enrichment market," said Robert J. Moore, USEC Senior Vice President and General Counsel. "Dumping by Eurodif and Urenco has injured the domestic enrichment industry. If the U.S. government carries this finding through to a final order, it will benefit the domestic enrichment industry, the U.S. nuclear fuel cycle and national energy security objectives."
The DOC ruling estimates antidumping duty rates for each of the European producers. In the case of Eurodif, the rate is 17.52 percent of the value of imported low-enriched uranium (LEU) from France. For Urenco, the rate is 3.35 percent for imports from the United Kingdom. The DOC calculated positive margins of 0.46 percent for Germany and 0.55 percent for the Netherlands. U.S. trade law requires the DOC to issue a preliminary negative determination when a preliminary dumping margin is less than 2 percent.
Today's ruling applies only to the antidumping investigation--that is, whether European enriched uranium has been sold in the United States at prices below those charged in the producers' home countries or below their cost of production plus a reasonable profit. In May, the DOC issued a separate preliminary ruling on the subsidy, or countervailing duty, portion of the investigation, finding that Urenco and Eurodif have been unfairly subsidized by their respective governments. At that time, the DOC imposed preliminary countervailing duty rates of 13.94 percent in the case of Eurodif and 3.72 percent for Urenco.
After publication, the DOC will require that importers of LEU from France and the United Kingdom either post a bond or pay cash deposits in the amount of these preliminary antidumping duty rates plus the countervailing duty rates announced in May. Under U.S. law, bonds or cash deposits are not required when estimated antidumping rates are less than two percent. Therefore, importers of LEU from the Netherlands and Germany will continue to be required to post bonds or pay cash deposits in the amount of the preliminary countervailing duty rates.
Actual antidumping and countervailing duties on these imports will be determined by the DOC in future reviews, should the department ultimately rule that duties are warranted. If duties are ultimately imposed, they would not prevent the importation of European enriched uranium into the U.S. market. The duties would, however, help to offset the European enrichers' unfair pricing practices. There will be no import quotas assigned by the U.S. government.
The DOC's investigation of European enriched uranium began last December in response to dumping and countervailing duty petitions filed by USEC with the DOC and the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC). In January, the ITC issued its preliminary ruling that there is a reasonable indication that these imports threaten to materially injure the domestic enrichment industry.
Final DOC determinations in both the antidumping and countervailing duty investigations are expected to be made late in 2001. If the DOC rules that countervailing and/or antidumping duties are warranted, the ITC will then make a final determination of injury around the end of 2001. If the ITC makes a final affirmative determination, the DOC will impose a final countervailing and/or antidumping duty order.
USEC Inc., a global energy company, is the world's leading supplier of enriched uranium fuel for commercial nuclear power plants.
CONTACT: USEC Inc.
Charles Yulish, 301/564-3391
or
Elizabeth Stuckle, 301/564-3399