The U.S. Department of Commerce has made a preliminary determination biodiesel exports from Argentina and Indonesia are being sold the United States below fair value, constituting dumping on the market and cause for imposing duties.

The department determined that exporters in the two countries sold biodiesel in the U.S. at “dumping margins of 54.36 percent to 70.05 percent and 50.71 percent, respectively.”

The National Biodiesel Board (NBB) Fair Trade Coalition, which brought the case to the department, is pleased with the ruling.

“It is reassuring with each decision that the Commerce Department is reviewing the data and facts at face value. The law is clear, and violations of trade law shouldn’t be ignored at the expense of the livelihoods of thousands of Americans employed or affected by biodiesel,” said Doug Whitehead, chief operating officer of the National Biodiesel Board.

The coalition, made up of NBB and 15 biodiesel producers, filed the petitions to address a flood of subsidized and dumped imports from Argentina and Indonesia that has resulted in market share losses and depressed prices for domestic producers. Biodiesel imports from Argentina and Indonesia surged by 464 percent from 2014 to 2016, taking 18.3 percentage points of market share from U.S. manufacturers. Imports of biodiesel from Argentina again jumped 144.5 percent following the filing of the petitions.

Duty deposit requirements will be imposed when the preliminary determination is published in the Federal Register sometime next week. The Commerce department is currently scheduled to announce its final determinations on January 3, 2018.