JAKARTA: The US Department of Commerce has imposed preliminary anti-dumping duties on biodiesel from Argentina and Indonesia ranging from around 50 to 70 per cent.
The initial finding from the commerce department said exporters from Argentina had sold biodiesel at dumping margins of 54.36 to 70.5 per cent, while exporters from Indonesia sold it at a margin of 50.71 per cent. The department said in a statement it would instruct US Customs and Border Protection to collect cash deposits from importers of biodiesel from the two countries based on those respective rates.
Wilbur Ross, US commerce secretary, said in the statement that Argentina’s government had already requested negotiations to suspend the antidumping duties and related countervailing duty investigations. But he added that while the department was working on possible agreements, it “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.”
The US imported just under 2m tonnes of plant-based biodiesel fuel derived from vegetable oils or animal fats from Argentina and Indonesia in 2016, about 80 per cent of the total.
Soyabean oil prices, which jumped in August after the commerce department issued a preliminary ruling finding Argentina and Indonesia were allegedly subsidising their biodiesel exporters, climbed 1.4 per cent in Chicago on Monday to close at $34.63 a pound.
