US Department of Commerce issues final antidumping determination

The National Biodiesel Board Fair Trade Coalition won a final antidumping determination from the U.S. Department of Commerce. The department found that biodiesel imports from Argentina and Indonesia are sold into the U.S. below fair value, and the cash deposit requirements on imports from these countries will be updated based on the final amount of dumping found.

“It is reassuring to see the administration enforcing policies that put America first,” said Kurt Kovarik, vice president of federal affairs at NBB. “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. 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 U.S. Customs and Border Protection to collect cash deposits in these amounts when the final determination is published in the Federal Register in late February or early March. 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 U.S. International Trade Commission in connection with the antidumping case is expected in March or April.

The NBB Fair Trade Coalition filed these petitions to address a flood of subsidized and dumped imports from Argentina and Indonesia that resulted in market share losses and depressed prices for domestic producers. Biodiesel imports from Argentina and Indonesia surged by 464 percent from 2014 to 2016, taking 18.3 percentage points of market share from U.S. manufacturers. Imports of biodiesel from Argentina again jumped 144.5 percent following the filing of the petitions. 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.  
  
Made from an increasingly diverse mix of resources such as recycled cooking oil, soybean oil and animal fats, biodiesel is a renewable, clean-burning diesel replacement that can be used in existing diesel engines without modification. It is the nation’s first domestically produced, commercially available advanced biofuel. The National Biodiesel Board is the U.S. trade association representing the biodiesel and renewable diesel industries, including producers, feedstock suppliers and fuel distributors.