Steptoe’s International Trade Attorneys Make History at Supreme Court: Justices to Hear First Antidumping Case in the Fall

(April 30, 2008, Washington, DC) – Attorneys in the International Trade Group at Steptoe & Johnson LLP made history last week when the US Supreme Court announced it will hear the first case involving the antidumping law ever considered by the Court.

The Steptoe team – led by Sheldon E. Hochberg, Eric C. Emerson, and Charles G. Cole – petitioned the Court on behalf of USEC Inc., the only US-based company that enriches uranium for use by nuclear power plants. The team’s petition sought review of a ruling by the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Eurodif S.A. v. United States, that imports of low enriched uranium under certain kinds of contracts were outside the scope of the antidumping law because they constituted sales of services, rather than sales of goods.  The petition argued that this ruling could “undermine the viability” of USEC’s enrichment plant and expansion plans, and raised broad implications for the application of the law to other industries.

“The Federal Circuit’s decision creates a significant loophole in this country’s antidumping statute and provides a blueprint for producers and customers to ‘contract around’ that law,” explained Sheldon Hochberg, a partner in the International Trade practice at Steptoe & Johnson LLP.

In addition to Steptoe’s petition on behalf of its client USEC, the US Solicitor General of the United States, joined by the General Counsels of the US Departments of State, Defense, Commerce and Energy, also filed a petition on behalf of the United States Government.  Both petitions were granted by the Court and the two appeals have been consolidated for purposes of briefing and oral argument.  The case will be argued and decided during the Supreme Court's next term, which begins in October.

Steptoe’s high-profile International Trade Group is one of the most experienced and active trade law practices in the United States. In addition to the LEU trade case, the group has played a leading role in many landmark international trade cases, including the long-running US – Canada softwood lumber dispute; antidumping cases involving a variety of steel products and anti-friction bearings from nine countries; and litigation involving the constitutionality of the Byrd Amendment. 

The firm has represented both domestic and foreign companies in more than 150 antidumping and countervailing duty cases before the US Department of Commerce and the US International Trade Commission.  Many of these involved appeals to the US Court of International Trade, the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, binational panels under the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), and dispute settlement proceedings before the World Trade Organization (WTO).

In 2007, Chambers USA, a leading international legal directory, named Steptoe's International Trade Group its International Trade Practice of the Year.

About Steptoe & Johnson LLP
With more than 485 attorneys, Steptoe & Johnson LLP provides counsel and representation in a wide range of legal fields. In more than 60 years of practice, the firm has gained a national and international reputation for vigorous representation of clients before governmental agencies, successful advocacy in litigation and arbitration, and creative and practical advice in guiding business transactions. The firm has offices in Washington, New York, Chicago, Phoenix, Los Angeles, Century City, London and Brussels.