The National Biodiesel Board Fair Trade Coalition case regarding subsidized biodiesel imports from Argentina and Indonesia continues to move forward to help level the playing field for the domestic biodiesel industry.

“The biodiesel industry has been injured for the past several years due to unfairly traded imports from Argentina and Indonesia,” said Doug Whitehead, chief operating officer of the NBB. “We appreciate that these unfair subsidies are being addressed, so we can fix this particular obstacle to continued growth in the domestic industry.” 

On Nov. 9, the U.S. International Trade Commission held a public hearing in Washington, D.C., where members of the coalition testified before the ITC commissioners. The ITC determines whether the domestic industry has been injured by reason of such unfairly traded imports. The ITC issued its final injury vote on subsidies Dec. 5, determining in a 4-0 vote that the U.S. biodiesel industry is in fact materially injured by biodiesel imports from Argentina and Indonesia, which the U.S. Department of Commerce previously determined are subsidized. As a result of the ITC’s affirmative determinations, the commerce department will issue countervailing duty orders on imports of biodiesel from Argentina and Indonesia.

“Though not yet over, this is a step forward in ensuring the product that supports nearly 64,000 jobs is not undercut by unfair imports,” Whitehead said. “These surging, low-priced imports prevented producers from earning adequate returns on their substantial investments and caused U.S. producers to pull back on further investments to serve a growing market.”

The coalition filed both antidumping and countervailing duty petitions with the commerce department. Antidumping petitions address whether imports coming into the U.S. are priced below fair value. Countervailing duty petitions address subsidies provided by foreign governments benefiting imported product.

The commerce department is scheduled to issue final antidumping determinations in early January, which would be followed by another ITC injury vote as it relates to dumped imports