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U.S. levies duties on Argentine and Indonesian biodiesel

Argentina’s biodiesel association Carbio says a U.S. decision to impose duties on imports of biodiesel from Argentina will result in the immediate suspension of exports to the U.S.

The Commerce Department ruled Tuesday that subsidies provided for biodiesel production in Argentina, as well as Indonesia, violate international trade rules. The preliminary ruling will require importers of biodiesel from Argentina and Indonesia to pay cash deposits on biodiesel brought into the U.S. from those countries.

The Argentine biodiesel group denies its exports are subsidized and called the finding by the U.S. Commerce Department “unjustified” and “protectionist.”

The organization representing U.S. biodiesel producers, the National Biodiesel Board, applauded the move, saying it will allow U.S. producers “to compete on a level playing field”.