WASHINGTON, D.C., March 23, 2017 – The National Biodiesel Board is asking the U.S. government to impose duties against Argentina and Indonesia, charging that the two countries are unfairly subsidizing their biodiesel production and then dumping the fuel on the U.S. market at below production costs.
In a release, NBB said that it filed an antidumping and countervailing duty petition today with the Department of Commerce and the U.S. International Trade Commission on behalf of the National Biodiesel Board Fair Trade Coalition, which is made up of the National Biodiesel Board and U.S. biodiesel producers.
“The National Biodiesel Board and U.S. biodiesel industry is committed to fair trade, and we support the right of producers and workers to compete on a level playing field,” said Donnell Rehagen, NBB’s CEO. “This is a simple case where companies in Argentina and Indonesia are getting advantages that cheat U.S. trade laws and are counter to fair competition. NBB is involved because U.S. biodiesel production, which currently support more than 50,000 American jobs, is being put at risk by unfair market practices.”
NBB says that biodiesel imports from Argentina and Indonesia surged by 464 percent from 2014 to 2016 because of unfair trade practices, taking 18.3 percentage points of market share from U.S. manufacturers.
“The resulting imbalance caused by unfair trade practices is suffocating U.S. biodiesel producers,” Rehagen explained. “Our goal is to create a level playing field to give markets, consumers and retailers access to the benefits of true and fair competition.”According to a review by NBB, Argentine and Indonesian producers are selling biodiesel into the U.S. market at prices substantially below their costs of production. Its petition alleges dumping margins of 23.3 percent for Argentina and 34.0 percent for Indonesia. The petition also alleges illegal subsidies based on numerous government programs in those countries.
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Argentine and Indonesian biodiesel producers have been charged with violating international trade laws in the past. In 2013, the EU imposed 41.9 to 49.2 percent duties on Argentina and 8.8 to 23.3 percent duties on Indonesia. Just last year, Peru imposed both antidumping and countervailing duties on Argentine biodiesel, NBB said.
The National Biodiesel Board represents the biodiesel and renewable diesel industries, including producers, feedstock suppliers, and fuel distributors.
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