NBB considering legal action over biodiesel from Argentina

The National Biodiesel Board is considering legal action over what it labels a constant flood of Argentinian biodiesel into the US market.

In March 2017, the National Biodiesel Board (NBB) Fair Trade Coalition filed petitions with the US Department of Commerce and the US International Trade Commission (ITC) alleging that increased volumes of subsidised and dumped biodiesel imports from Argentina and Indonesia were taking market share away from US manufacturers, and causing significant harm to US producers.

A business intelligence company reported that biodiesel exports from Argentina reached a five-month high in April, with all of that volume being shipped to the United States. According to the NBB, shipment tracking information shows that significant volumes are expected in June, more than had been seen in January through March, despite the submitting of the petition.

NBB says that subsequent to the filing of the petition, Argentina ‘substantially’ reduced its export taxes on biodiesel, and then lifted those taxes again in June, “contributing to the increase in shipments and exacerbating already challenging circumstances for US producers.”

Anne Steckel, vice president of federal affairs at NBB, speaking on behalf of the NBB Fair Trade Commission, said: “We’ve received information of potentially 75 million gallons of biodiesel flooding our ports soon—a significant increase from the import levels we saw in January, February and March. We filed the petition to level the playing field for U.S. producers, and the NBB Fair Trade Coalition will use every legal tool available to address these unfairly traded imports,”  

Among the tools suggested by the NBB Fair Trade Coalition is a request for a finding of critical circumstances, which would allow the US government to impose duties retroactively on imports reaching US shores up to 90 days prior to the Department of Commerce’s preliminary determinations on the claims of the petitions.

According to the NBB, The U.S. Department of Commerce is expected to announce its preliminary determinations regarding the estimated rates of subsidisation and dumping on or about 22^nd August 2017 and 20^th October 2017, respectively.