Biofuel Briefs

Biodiesel Duties Remain; EU Policy Stays in Place Through 2020

By Todd Neeley

DTN Staff Reporter

OMAHA (DTN) -- The European Union on Tuesday extended anti-dumping and anti-subsidy duties against United States biodiesel through 2020, according to EU regulations published this week.

The decision essentially blocks biodiesel imports from the United States.

In 2014 the European Commission ruled the $1 biodiesel tax credit in the United States was harming European producers when that biodiesel is then imported.

The National Biodiesel Board expressed disappointment at the EU's decision to extend the duties issued in 2009, in a statement released Tuesday. Anne Steckel, the biodiesel board's vice president of federal affairs, said the EU's decision is reason to take a second look at biodiesel policy in the United States.

"The European Commission has decided to continue a policy that is clearly aimed at giving European biodiesel producers an edge over their competition and a lock on the European market," she said. "It is disappointing and we will continue evaluating our options for fighting these protectionist duties.

"This decision highlights why the U.S. biodiesel tax incentive should be reformed and converted into a domestic production credit so that we have a level playing field. When the U.S. biodiesel tax incentive is in effect under the current structure, European biodiesel can be shipped to the United States only to be rewarded with a $1-per-gallon incentive, while at the same time U.S. biodiesel shipped to the EU is slapped with punitive duties. This is obviously unfair to American companies and workers."

The duties were set to expire last year until the European Biodiesel Board pushed the EU Commission for an extension.

"The EU has cited the $1-per-gallon biodiesel tax incentive in the U.S. as a reason to extend the duties, ignoring the fact that the biodiesel tax incentive is currently expired and that European biodiesel was eligible to receive the tax credit so long as it was blended in the U.S.," NBB said in a statement.

The NBB contends European biodiesel producers are able to sell biodiesel in both Europe and the United States "without duties or limitation and can freely participate in U.S. policies such as the Renewable Fuel Standard and, before it had expired, the U.S. biodiesel tax incentive.

"In fact, U.S. imports of biodiesel from the EU have grown in recent years while EU imports of U.S. biodiesel have been virtually eliminated since the EU duties were imposed."

Americans used about 1.8 billion gallons of biodiesel in 2014.

The European Biodiesel Board in a statement Tuesday lamented the success of producers in the United States as unfair to European producers. The group specifically cited federal and state tax incentives.

"Ever since the $1-a-gallon biodiesel tax credit was first implemented in the U.S. legislation a decade ago, it never ceased to play a key role in the scaling up of the U.S. biodiesel production and securing it a significant advantage," stated Raffaello Garofalo, secretary general of the European Biodiesel Board. "Even though the tax credit kept expiring several times, the U.S. authorities have established a tradition of reinstating the tax credit in a retroactive manner as part of the so-called 'tax extenders package, policy.'"

Though the biodiesel tax credit expired at the end of last year, the European Biodiesel Board pointed to the Senate Finance Committee's bill drafted in July as an indicator that Congress would renew the biodiesel tax credit through 2016.

Todd Neeley can be reached at todd.neeley@dtn.com

Follow him on Twitter @ToddNeeleyDTN

(BM/AG)

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