Biodiesel Wins Antidumping Decision

Cindy Zimmerman

The National Biodiesel Board (NBB) Fair Trade Coalition has won a final antidumping determination from the Commerce Department that biodiesel imports from Argentina and Indonesia are sold into the United States below fair value, and the cash deposit requirements on imports from these countries will be updated.

“Today’s decision provides room for the domestic biodiesel industry to flourish and produce more volumes of this American-made fuel, which provides so many economic and environmental benefits,” said Kurt Kovarik, vice president of federal affairs at the National Biodiesel Board. “The biodiesel industry already deals with policy uncertainties, such as lapsing tax credits and annual unpredictability with the Renewable Fuel Standard, so we appreciate seeing illegally dumped imports remedied. We look forward to continuing our focus on growing the domestic industry that supports roughly 64,000 jobs across the nation,”

As a result of the Commerce Department’s final ruling, importers of Argentinian and Indonesian biodiesel will continue to pay cash deposits on biodiesel imported from those countries. The updated cash deposit rates range from 60.44 to 86.41 percent for biodiesel from Argentina, and 92.52 to 276.65 percent for biodiesel from Indonesia, depending on the particular foreign producer/exporter involved. The Commerce Department will instruct Customs to collect cash deposits in these amounts when the final determination is published in the Federal Register sometime next week. The duty deposit requirements are in addition to the deposits required by the final countervailing duty orders published earlier this year. The final countervailing duty orders followed affirmative findings that unfairly subsidized biodiesel imports from Argentina and Indonesia injured the U.S. biodiesel industry. A final determination by the International Trade Commission in connection with the antidumping case is expected in March or April.

Biodiesel, International