WASHINGTON, April 30, 2013 - The Obama Administration should
consider a World Trade Organization (WTO) challenge to the European
Union’s “unprecedented” anti-dumping duty recently imposed on U.S. ethanol
producers, according to a bipartisan group of U.S. Senators.
Fourteen Democratic and Republican Senators sent a letter
to the Acting United States Trade Representative (USTR), Demetrios Manatos and
Acting Secretary of Commerce, Rebecca Blank, calling on them to review and
consider such a challenge.
The letter was co-authored by Senators John Thune (R-SD) and Amy
Klobuchar (D-MN), and cosponsored by Senators Tom Harkin (D-IA), Chuck Grassley
(R-IA), Al Franken (D-MN), Mike Johanns (R-NE), Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND), Deb
Fischer (R-NE), Tim Johnson (D-SD), John Hoeven (R-ND), Claire McCaskill
(D-MO), Pat Roberts (R-KS), Richard Durbin (D-IL) and Roy Blunt (R-MO).
Commenting on the rare bipartisan agreement generated by this anti-dumping
duty, Bob Dinneen, President and CEO of the Renewable Fuels Association, and
Tom Buis, CEO of Growth Energy, issued the following joint statement:
“We are pleased to see that members of the United States Senate
have taken action against this outrageous claim by the European Union and have
asked the USTR to further investigate the matter.
“The EU Commission failed to make any particular finding of
dumping by any producer or marketer investigated in connection with the case.
If allowed to stand, this rule would set a dangerous precedent for trade and
trade remedies in advance of important trade talks between the U.S. and the EU,
and furthermore will dramatically change the boundaries and limits of
international anti-dumping law.”
#30
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