US Tells CIT Enriched Ammonium Sulfate Covered by AD/CVD Orders on Ammonium Sulfate
The Commerce Department reasonably said importer Cambridge Isotope Laboratories' enriched isotope compounds fit under the antidumping and countervailing duty orders on ammonium sulfate from China, the government argued in a reply brief at the Court of International Trade. The importer's 15N-enriched ammonium sulfate should have been included under the orders since the orders cover ammonium sulfate in all "physical forms," the government said (Cambridge Isotope Laboratories v. United States, CIT # 23-00080).
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The government claimed that Cambridge Isotope's enriched sulfate "remains ammonium sulfate, even if it has been enriched to have a higher concentration of nitrogen-15," since ammonium sulfate "naturally contains a small concentration of the nitrogen-15 isotope." The U.S. argued that while the Chemical Abstracts Service registry provides a separate number for 15N ammonium sulfate, the AD/CVD orders "explain that the written description controls and the CAS registry number for ammonium sulfate is not dispositive."
Cambridge Isotope took to the trade court to contest the inclusion of its products within the scope of the orders, arguing that its isotope is an entirely different product than the one covered by the orders, since it has 15, not 14, nitrogen molecules (see 2410250044).
In response, the U.S. said the scope language "makes no reference to the number of neutrons in the nucleus of each nitrogen atom, the relative abundance of nitrogen isotopes, or the molecular weight of ammonium sulfate." The importer itself explained that nitrogen is made of two stable isotopes, 14N and 15N, with 15N naturally occurring, albeit only at a 0.37% rate. The importer's product is made by "increasing the concentration of the 15N isotope."
As a result, Cambridge Isotope's "15N-enriched ammonium sulfate remains ammonium sulfate, just with a higher proportion of nitrogen-15, which is achieved through an enrichment process," the brief said.
Despite its claims that its product is not covered merchandise and has a different chemical formula and Chemical Abstracts Service number, the importer "never states -- nor could it -- that 15N-enriched ammonium sulfate is not ammonium sulfate," the brief said.
Cambridge Isotope said the scope's reference to "physical forms" relates to states of matter, citing Wikipedia to claim that the common meaning of "form" is states of matter. In addition, the importer said, purportedly without citation, that certain investigative documents describe ammonium sulfate "in terms of pellet or aqueous form rather than products with different chemical structures." However, the government said these "investigative" documents and definitions used by the importer were never presented to Commerce at the administrative level and are thus waived.
""In any event, [the importer's] proposed meaning of 'all physical forms' is internally inconsistent," the brief said. While Cambridge Isotope said that a meaning of the phrase that covers both unenriched and enriched ammonium sulfate would improperly include products with a different chemical formula or structure, the importer itself "acknowledges that nitrogen naturally occurs in two isotopic forms," the U.S. said.
And while Cambridge Isotope points to the end use of 15N-enriched ammonium sulfate to argue that it's not covered by the scope of the orders, the "scope description is not limited to particular end uses for ammonium sulfate," the brief said.