Detail

United States of America

Biofuels

Biodiesel

01/11/2018

Trade

Biofuel policy

Initiated a ‘changed circumstances review’ to re-examine the anti-dumping and countervailing duties it placed on imports of Argentine biodiesel in late 2017 and early 2018.

The U.S. Department of Commerce initiated a ‘changed circumstances review’ to examine the anti-dumping and countervailing duties it placed on imports of Argentine biodiesel in late 2017 and early 2018 (see MPPU Mar.&May’18). The review process has been opened on request of the Argentine Government, following the latter’s decision to i) raise the country’s export tax on soybean-based biodiesel, ii) lift the domestic biodiesel price, and iii) lower the country’s export tax on soybean products (see MPPU Aug.&Oct.’18). A reduction or repeal of the retaliatory tariffs can be expected to lead to a resumption of biodiesel imports from Argentina, which would likely hurt US biodiesel producers and dampen domestic soybean uptake. A ‘changed circumstances review’ can take up to 270 days, meaning that a final determination should be reached by August 2019.