China‘s commerce ministry is ending an 18-month anti-dumping investigation into imports of the ethanol co-product distillers dried grains (DDGS), offering the opportunity to bring U.S. exports back up as it means no anti-dumping tariffs will be imposed.

China’s imports of DDGs dropped by nearly half last year compared to 2010 when they topped 2.5 million metric tons, up 385 percent over the previous year. U.S. Grains Council President and CEO Tom Dorr says U.S. exports to China have already shown an increase this year over last in anticipation of this decision. “Imported DDGS from the U.S. the first four months, January through April of 2012, are up about 84% over 2011,” Dorr said in a press conference this morning. “We think people were sensing that this may be the outcome and were willing to take the risk that there probably would not be tariffs imposed.”

Dorr gave special recognition to Ray Defenbaugh, President and CEO Big River Resources, for his help during the investigation. “One of his plants was selected for the investigation phase of the case,” said Dorr. “He was very supportive of dealing with this issue head-on which helped everyone.” The three plants originally chosen for the investigation were Big River, United Wisconsin and Golden Grain.