Biodiesel
 
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The National Biodiesel Board (NBB) Fair Trade Coalition on Feb. 21 won a final antidumping determination from the Commerce Department. The department found that biodiesel imports from Argentina and Indonesia are sold into the United States below fair value, and the cash deposit requirements on imports from these countries will be updated based on the final amount of dumping found.
Kurt Kovarik VP of federal affairs for NBB
Kurt Kovarik, vice-president of federal affairs at the National Biodiesel Board

“It is reassuring to see the administration enforcing policies that put America first,” said Kurt Kovarik, vice-president of federal affairs at the National Biodiesel Board. “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 Argentine 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% for biodiesel from Argentina, and 92.52% to 276.65% for biodiesel from Indonesia, depending on the particular foreign producer/exporter involved. The Commerce Department will instruct Customs to collect cash deposits in these amounts when the final determination is published in the Federal Register sometime next week. 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 International Trade Commission in connection with the antidumping case is expected in March or April.

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.