US investigates Argentinian and Indonesian biodiesel imports

The US International Trade Commission has announced it will start an investigation into imports of biodiesel from Indonesia and Argentina. In particular, the probe will look for evidence of dumping and subsidisation from the two countries, according to Reuters.

A preliminary decision will be made by 8 May on whether biodiesel imports from Indonesia and Argentina are harming US biodiesel producers.

In March 2017, the US National Biodiesel Board filed an antidumping and countervailing duty petition with the US Department of Commerce and the US International Trade Commission to investigate imports from the two countries, claiming they had violated international trade laws by flooding the US market with dumped, subsidised biodiesel.

The petition has caused controversy in both Argentina and Indonesia, with both countries labelling the move as ‘protectionist’ and denying the accusations.

Oke Nurwan, Indonesia's director general for foreign trade, told Reuters: "The Indonesian government, especially the trade ministry, will be cooperative in the investigation by providing arguments and supportive data and documents to show that there was no dumping or subsidies,"

While Claudio Molina, head of Argentina's Biofuels Association, said: "Now they have to prove everything that they are claiming, which is a sham. It's a protectionist measure,"

The US imported 916 million gallons (3.5 billion litres) of biodiesel in 2016, according to data published by the US government. Argentina was the origin of around two thirds of those imports, with Indonesia and Canada the next biggest exporters of biodiesel to the US.