The Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) and Growth Energy are pleased with Thursday's decision by a European court to annul the European Union’s (EU) countrywide 9.5 percent antidumping duty on all ethanol imported from the United States. The duty had been in place since February 2013.
The EU General Court ruled that the five-year antidumping duty, of $83.03 per metric ton, was invalid because the European Commission was required by EU law to give each sampled U.S. company its own antidumping rate. Instead, the EC based its countrywide rate on all parties, even though the majority of them were never properly sampled, in direct violation of both the European Commission’s own rules and longstanding WTO precedent.
In May 2013, RFA and Growth Energy filed a joint complaint, outlining violations by the European Commission in its antidumping investigation. The antidumping duty had effectively shut out U.S. ethanol producers from accessing the European market, which before the penalty was imposed had represented a 300 million gallon market for our industry.
“The antidumping duty should have never been assessed,” said Renewable Fuels Association President and CEO Bob Dinneen. “We feel vindicated and thank the EU General Court for its commonsense ruling.”
“From the beginning, we believed the implementation of an EU duty on imported ethanol violated EU law,” said Emily Skor, Growth Energy CEO. “We would like to thank the EU General Court for its fair and logical ruling, and are pleased with their decision.”
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