Detail

European Union

Biofuels

Biodiesel

01/08/2019

Trade

Import policy/biofuel policy

Imposed provisional countervailing duties on imports of biodiesel from Indonesia, after determining that Indonesian biodiesel producers benefit from grants, tax incentives and access to raw materials (notably palm oil) below market prices – a condition believed to inflict a threat of economic damage to EU producers.

The European Commission imposed countervailing duties of 8–18 percent (depending on the supplier concerned) on imports of biodiesel from Indonesia. According to an investigation conducted by the Commission, Indonesia’s biodiesel producers benefit from grants, tax incentives and access to raw materials (notably palm oil) below market prices – a condition believed to inflict a threat of economic damage to EU producers. The new import duties have been imposed on a provisional basis as the investigation continues, with a possibility to determine definitive measures by mid-December. Due to the new duties, Indonesian industry officials lowered their forecast for this year’s EU-bound biodiesel shipments from 1.4 to 1 million tonnes. For the record, from 2013 to 2018, imports of biodiesel from both Indonesia and Argentina to the EU had been subject to anti-dumping duties. However, following the removal of the latter, the EU decided to launch fresh investigations, focusing on the alleged biodiesel subsidization in the two countries (see also MPPU Mar./May’18 & Mar.’19).