EU Extends Import Duties on U.S. Biodiesel to 2020

The European Union is extending anti-dumping and anti-subsidy duties imposed on U.S. biodiesel imports for a further five years, until September 2020, maintaining its defence against trade in the renewable fuel source.

The bloc set the duties in 2009 on a number of U.S. producers of biodiesel, including Archer Daniels Midland Co and Cargill Inc, effectively bringing to a halt $1 billion in annual trade.

The EU decided there was still a risk of harm if the duties were lifted and so chose to extend them, an official EU journal stated on Tuesday.

At issue was a U.S. tax credit of $1 per gallon of biodiesel produced, which the European Commission judged was harming European producers.

Reporting by Philip Blenkinsop