The National Biodiesel Board wrote a letter to a group of 14 senators and thanked them for asking Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross to be transparent in the upcoming review of U.S. duties on Argentine biodiesel imports. The department launched what’s called a “changed circumstances” review of those duties. The senators are asking Commerce to develop a complete record of Argentina biodiesel trade actions before they determine if another look at the U.S. import duties is warranted.

In the letter, the senators say, “It’s unclear why Commerce would afford a special review to Argentina and its biodiesel industry when the ink on the anti-dumping and countervailing duty orders is barely dry.” They also point out that in the short period since the antidumping and countervailing duty orders were imposed, U.S. biodiesel producers have been able to compete on a more level playing field and the U.S. biodiesel industry has begun to recover from the injury caused by the unfair trade practices of the Argentinian government and biodiesel industry.

Kurt Kovarik, NBB Vice President of Federal Affairs, says, “NBB and its members appreciate the leadership of the senators who raised concerns about fair trade with Secretary Ross. Over the past two years, Argentina has made more than a dozen changes to its export tax rates and continued to massively subsidize its biodiesel industry.”