U.S. imposes duties on biodiesel imports from Argentina, Indonesia

The U.S. Commerce Department on Monday said it has instructed Customs to collect cash deposits from importers of biodiesel from Argentina and Indonesia, but is considering Argentina’s request to suspend the antidumping and countervailing investigations.    The U.S. Commerce Department will instruct Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to collect cash deposits from importers of biodiesel from Argentina and Indonesia based on preliminary rates determined in its ongoing antidumping investigation, the department said in a statement Monday.
   The duties are pegged to dumping margins determined by Commerce investigators, which found that Argentina and Indonesia sold biodiesel in the United States at dumping margins of 54.36 percent to 70.05 percent and 50.71 percent, respectively.
   However, Commerce said it has already been approached by the Argentine government about suspending the antidumping and countervailing duty investigations against its biodiesel shipments. The department said it’s considering possible suspension agreements and would “only sign such agreements if they ensure that injury to the domestic biodiesel industry is eliminated and that the unfair trade practices are addressed.”
   Imports of biodiesel from Argentina and Indonesia in 2016 were valued at an estimated $1.2 billion and $268 million, respectively. Biodiesel is manufactured from a diverse mix of resources such as recycled cooking oil, soybean oil and animal fats, and can be used in existing diesel engines without modification.
   The petitioner for the antidumping and countervailing duty investigations is the National Biodiesel Fair Trade Coalition, an ad-hoc association composed of the National Biodiesel Board (NBB) and 15 domestic producers of biodiesel.
   Dumping occurs when a foreign company sells its product in the U.S. market at less than fair value, while countervailable subsidies are issued by foreign governments to a company contingent on its export performance or use of domestic sources over imports.
   The coalition called the Commerce antidumping determination a win. 
   “It is reassuring with each decision that the Commerce Department is reviewing the data and facts at face value. The law is clear, and violations of trade law shouldn’t be ignored at the expense of the livelihoods of thousands of Americans employed or affected by biodiesel,” said Doug Whitehead, NBB’s chief operating officer, in a statement.
   The coalition said it filed the petitions to “address a flood of subsidized and dumped imports from Argentina and Indonesia that has resulted in market share losses and depressed prices for domestic producers.” 
   Biodiesel imports from Argentina and Indonesia increased 464 percent from 2014 to 2016, taking 18.3 percentage points of market share from U.S. manufacturers. Subsequent to the coalition filing the petition, Argentine biodiesel imports jumped another 144.5 percent, the group 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,” NBB said.
   Unless the final determinations are postponed, Commerce is currently scheduled to announce its final antidumping determinations on Jan. 3, 2018. If the department makes affirmative final determinations of dumping and the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) also makes affirmative final injury determinations, then Commerce will issue antidumping orders. If Commerce, on the other hand, makes negative final determinations of dumping or the ITC finds no injury, the investigations will then be terminated and no orders will be issued.