Iowa Biodiesel Board Applauds Preliminary Trade Determination

The Iowa Biodiesel Board applauds a preliminary countervailing duty determination from the Commerce Department regarding subsidized biodiesel imports from Argentina and Indonesia. The Commerce Department found that Argentina and Indonesia provide subsidies to their biodiesel producers in violation of international trade rules. Grant Kimberley, director of market development for the Iowa Soybean Association, and the executive director of the Iowa Biodiesel Board issued the following statement: 

“We thank the National Biodiesel Board Fair Trade Coalition for their work on this important trade issue, which has put American biodiesel producers at a serious competitive disadvantage in our own country. Millions of gallons of foreign-made biodiesel from countries like Argentina and Indonesia are subsidized by both their home country and by our own country’s blender’s tax credit. This double-subsidy for foreign-produced biodiesel means that it costs less per gallon than American-made biodiesel, in some cases pushing our homegrown Iowa biodiesel out of the market. 

“The effect of this unfair advantage has been significant. In 2015, blenders in the United States that bought foreign-made biodiesel received $600 million dollars in tax credits. This isn’t simply harmful to biodiesel – it harms agriculture, reverberating into our soybean meal export market, which is vital to the ag economy. In countries like Argentina, the double-dipping of subsidies makes their soybean crushing business more profitable, putting our meal at an unfair global disadvantage.  

“If this determination stands, it will begin to reverse the harmful effects this trade situation has caused biodiesel producers, and will over time correct the effect felt in agriculture as well. We will also continue fighting for the restructuring of the U.S. biodiesel tax incentive in Congress to close this loophole on the home front.”

We thank the National Biodiesel Board Fair Trade Coalition for their work to address the illegal trade activities by Argentina and Indonesia that have put American biodiesel producers at a serious competitive disadvantage in our own country.