US increases import tariffs as domestic uranium production grows

US uranium production in the second quarter of 2024 was 97,709 pounds U3O8 (37.58 tU), the EIA said in its quarterly update. This is an 18% increase from first quarter production of 82,533 pounds U3O8, bringing production for the first half of the year to 180,242 pounds – far more than 2023’s total production of 49,619 pounds, and close to 2022’s full-year production of 193,945 pounds U3O8.

Production in the second quarter was from five facilities – Nichols Ranch, Ross, Lost Creek and Smith Ranch-Highland, all in Wyoming, and Rosita in Texas.

The EIA’s quarterly report appeared in the same week the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) announced in the Federal Register modified tariffs for various goods imported into the USA from China. These tariffs were originally imposed under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 to address Chinese imports related to technology transfer, intellectual property and innovation that the USA considers to be unreasonable or discriminatory, and which burden or restrict US commerce. The newly announced rates follow a statutory review process.

The tariff on “Actinium, californium, curium, einsteinium, gadolinium, polonium, radium, uranium & their compounds, alloys, dispersions, ceramic products & mixtures”, which currently stands at 7.50%, will increase to 25%. The new tariff will apply to products that are “entered for consumption, or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption, on or after September 27, 2024”.

According to the EIA’s Uranium Marketing Annual Report, US utilities purchased 49.239 million pounds U3O8 in 2023, meaning that imports made up most of the 51.625 million pounds purchased in the year. Sources for all but around 957,000 pounds of those imports were disclosed, but the agency withheld the actual amount of uranium purchased from several countries including China to avoid disclosure of individual company data.

Although US imports of Chinese uranium have been small, there now appears to be concern in the USA that Chinese imports may be used to circumvent the ban on the import of Russian-produced unirradiated LEU into the USA which has been in place since the Prohibiting Russian Uranium Imports Act came into force in August.

The US Department of Energy “along with other relevant agencies is closely tracking imports from China to ensure the proper implementation of the recently enacted Prohibiting Russian Uranium Imports Act”, a department spokesperson told Reuters. US officials are monitoring imports from China and other countries to “ensure they are not importing Russian uranium as part of a scheme to export material produced domestically that they would otherwise have used in their own reactors”, the spokesman added.

The Chinese foreign ministry told Reuters that “China has always opposed any illegal unilateral sanctions and ‘long arm jurisdiction'” and that cooperation between China and Russia is “an independent choice made by two sovereign countries based on their respective development needs, openly and honestly, without targeting any third party, and without being interfered or obstructed by any third party”.

China is willing to continue “normal economic and trade cooperation” with countries around the world, including Russia, it added.