Bob Dinneen, RFA and Anne Steckel, NBB testify at Commerce Department hearing
The NBB testified about the harm being caused to the U.S. biodiesel industry from increasing volumes of imports from Indonesia, while RFA was focused on China’s recent protectionist barriers imposed on U.S. ethanol and dried distillers grain.
“Between 2014 and 2016, the trade imbalance with respect to biodiesel has grown 95 percent,” testified Anne Steckel, vice president of federal affairs at NBB. “Unfair trade practices have caused this significant surge in biodiesel imports and growing trade deficit, such as massive subsidization by the Indonesian government and dumped pricing by Indonesian biodiesel producers and exporters.” NBB filed an antidumping and countervailing duty petition in March making the case that Argentine and Indonesian companies are violating trade laws by flooding the U.S. market with dumped and subsidized biodiesel.
“China’s recent anti-dumping and countervailing tariffs on ethanol and DDGS are significantly injuring U.S. ethanol producers and farmers, and undermining the substantial investments our industries have made in developing a trade relationship with the country,” said RFA president and CEO Bob Dinneen, who noted that China’s recent actions have contributed to lower prices for ethanol and DDGS. Ethanol prices have fallen 15 percent since mid-December 2016, while DDGS prices have fallen steadily since the summer of 2016. Today, DDGS prices are approximately 40 percent lower than in June 2016.