Detail

United States of America

Biofuels

Biodiesel

01/07/2019

Trade

Import policy/biofuel policy

Preliminarily determined the following with respect to the anti-dumping and countervailing duties applied to imports of biodiesel from Argentina: i) that recent changes in Argentina’s export tax regime had led to a cutback in the country’s subsidies, hence warranting a reduction in the US countervailing rates; and ii) that circumstances warranting changes did not exist in respect of the US anti-dumping duties.

The U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC) completed the ‘changed circumstances review’ it conducted to assess whether the anti-dumping and countervailing duties applied to imports of biodiesel from Argentina continued to be warranted (see MPPU Dec.’18). The DOC preliminarily determined that recent changes in Argentina’s export tax regime have eliminated certain government subsidies provided to the country’s biodiesel producers, hence warranting a reduction in the United States’ countervailing rates. With regard to the anti-dumping duties, however, DOC found that the circumstances warranting changes did not exist. In case the preliminary findings were confirmed, DOC can be expected to reduce the existing countervailing duty rates from their current average of 72 percent to 10 percent, whereas the present anti-dumping rates of 75 percent would remain in place.