The National Biodiesel Board filed an antidumping and countervailing duty petition on Thursday, making the case that Argentine and Indonesian companies are violating trade laws by flooding the U.S. market with dumped and subsidized biodiesel. The petition was filed with the U.S. 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. NBB leadership says the “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.” Because of illegal trade activities, biodiesel imports from Argentina and Indonesia surged by 464 percent from 2014 to 2016, according to NBB. That growth has taken 18.3 percentage points of market share from U.S. manufacturers. This is not the first time that Argentine and Indonesian biodiesel producers have been charged with violating international trade laws. In 2013, the European Union 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.
Source: NAFB News Service