Commerce Launches New Investigation of Possible Section 232 Import Restrictions on Uranium

The Commerce Department on July 18 announced a Section 232 investigation into possible import restrictions on uranium. Requested by Ur-Energy USA and Energy Fuels Resources in January (see 1801190016), the investigation will determine whether “the present quantity and circumstances of uranium ore and product imports into the United States threaten to impair national security,” Commerce said.

The underlying petition specifically called out imports from Russia, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, citing the negative impact on the U.S. uranium industry of state-owned companies in those countries. But Canada was the largest source of U.S. uranium imports in 2016 with a quarter of U.S. market share, followed closely by Kazakhstan with 24 percent of U.S. imports that year and Australia with 20 percent of U.S. imports, according to the Energy Information Administration. Russia was fourth at 14 percent.

Commerce cited the importance of uranium to U.S. energy production and its use by the U.S. Navy in nuclear submarines and aircraft carriers as motivation for its decision to launch the investigation. “Our production of uranium necessary for military and electric power has dropped from 49 percent of our consumption to five percent,” Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said in the press release. Three U.S. companies with mining operations have been idled in recent years, and Ur-Energy and Energy Fuels Resources have laid off more than half their workforces over the last two years and are operating at around one-tenth of their capacity, Commerce said.

The underlying petition requested a quota that would reserve 25 percent of the U.S. market for domestically mined uranium, as well as a Buy America policy for U.S. government agencies that use uranium. Commerce now has 270 days to conduct its Section 232 investigation, after which President Donald Trump would have 90 days to make a final decision on whether to impose import restrictions.

Ur-Energy and Energy Fuels Resources cheered the announcement in a press release. “The proposed remedies are expected to restore a sustainable U.S. uranium mining industry, bolster national defense, and support energy security through reduced reliance on state-subsidized uranium and nuclear fuel imports from nations that compete with the U.S. for geopolitical influence and commercial advantage,” they said.