The Supreme Court has granted a petition, signed by the Solicitor General and several high-profile lawyers in the US Departments of State, Commerce, and Energy, to review the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit’s decision United States v. Eurodif(Fastcase subscribers click for case). It will be the first ever anti-dumping case heard by the US Supreme Court. The controversial case deals with the import of low-enriched uranium (LEU); U.S. utilities send the the un-enriched uranium to the French company Eurodif, paying for the “service” of enrichment. The enriched uranium is then exported back into the U.S. as LEU. The circuit court ruled that the transaction involves a service rather than a product, rendering the import of LEU immune from the anti-dumping statutes.

Several officials were alarmed by the decision, which, according to Solicitor General Paul Clements, could create a “potentially gaping loophole” in the statute. Under the ruling, companies could restructure their purchases to act more like services to get around the anti-dumping laws. The sole U.S. enricher of uranium has also petitioned the court to hear the case, arguing that the resulting dumping could undercut its business.