On March 23, 2017, Petitioners the National Biodiesel Board Fair Trade Coalition and its individual members filed a petition for the imposition of antidumping duties and countervailing duties on imports of Biodiesel from Argentina and Indonesia.

SCOPE OF THE INVESTIGATION

The product covered by these petitions is biodiesel, which is a fuel comprised of mono-alkyl esters of long chain fatty acids derived from vegetable oils or animal fats, including waste oils or greases, and other biologically-based oil or fat sources. The petitions cover biodiesel in pure form (“B100”) as well as fuel mixtures containing at least 99 percent biodiesel by volume (“B99”). For fuel mixtures containing less than 99 percent biodiesel by volume, only the biodiesel component of the mixture is covered by the scope of the petitions.

Biodiesel is generally produced to American Society for Testing and Materials International (“ASTM”) D6751 specifications, but it can also be made to other specifications. Biodiesel commonly has one of the following Chemical Abstracts Service (“CAS”) numbers, generally depending upon the feedstock used: 67784-80-9 (soybean oil methyl esters); 91051-34-2 (palm oil methyl esters); 91051-32-0 (palm kernel oil methyl esters); 73891-99-3 (rapeseed oil methyl esters); 61788-61-2 (tallow methyl esters); 68990-52-3 (vegetable oil methyl esters); 129828-16-6 (canola oil methyl esters); 67762-26-9 (unsaturated alkylcarboxylic acid methyl ester); or 68937-84-8 (fatty acids, C12-C18, methyl ester).

The B100 product subject to the petitions is currently classifiable under subheading 3826.00.1000 of the Harmonized Tariff System of the United States (“HTSUS”), while the B99 product is currently classifiable under HTSUS subheading 3826.00.3000. Although the HTSUS subheadings, ASTM specifications, and CAS numbers are provided for convenience and customs purposes, the written description of the scope is dispositive.

PETITIONERS

National Biodiesel Board Fair Trade Coalition and its individual members:
National Biodiesel Board
1331 Pennsylvania Ave., NW
Washington, DC 20004
(202) 737-8801

COUNSEL FOR PETITIONERS

Myles S. Getlan
CASSIDY LEVY KENT (USA) LLP
2000 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Suite 3000
Washington, D.C. 20006

ALLEGED DUMPING MARGIN

Argentina: 23.3%
Indonesia: 34.0%

NAMED PRODUCERS/EXPORTERS

For a list of foreign products/exporters alleged by Petitioner, please see Attachment I.

NAMED IMPORTERS

For a list of importers alleged by Petitioner, please see Attachment II.

IMPORTS OF SUBJECT MERCHANDISE

  2014 2015 2016
Argentina
Volume (kilograms) 156,496,735 659,660,980 1,475,037,679
Value (USD) 149,115,926 523,189,804 1,283,532,057
AUV (USD/KG) 0.95 0.79 0.87
Indonesia
Volume (kilograms) 170,961,680 236,831,825 370,969,345
Value (USD) 159,370,668 182,912,670 304,255,016
AUV (USD/KG) 0.93 0.77 0.82

CONTACT US

For more information concerning this petition and how it may affect your business, please contact Jeffrey Neeley.