US slaps prelim anti-dumping duties on biodiesel from Argentina, Indonesia

The US Commerce Department on Monday announced a decision to impose preliminary anti-dumping duties on biodiesel imports from Argentina and Indonesia.

For Argentina the preliminary rates vary from 54.36% to 70.05%, and for Indonesia they have been set at 50.71%. Cash deposits will be collected from importers based on these rates.

The decision is a result of investigations launched in response to a petition by the National Biodiesel Board (NBB) and 15 domestic biodiesel producers. The Commerce Department already announced preliminary anti-subsidy duties on biodiesel imports from the two countries in August. Its final determinations with respect to the anti-subsidy and anti-dumping duties are due in early November 2017 and January 2018, respectively.

Commerce also said that Argentina's government has asked for negotiations to suspend the duty investigations. "The Trump Administration is committed to both free and fair trade and will defend American workers against unfair trade practices," said Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross. "Still, we are thankful to the Government of Argentina for their proactive approach to solving this issue, and remain optimistic that a negotiated solution can be reached both with Argentina and with Indonesia," Ross added.

NBB said that biodiesel imports from Argentina and Indonesia have jumped by 464% from 2014 to 2016, grabbing a market share of 18.3 percentage points from US producers. According to Commerce, biodiesel imports from Argentina and Indonesia were worth an estimated USD 1.2 billion (EUR 1bn) and USD 268 million, respectively, in 2016.

(USD 1 = EUR 0.850)

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