WTO rules partly in favor of Argentina regarding EU anti-dumping duties on biodiesel

The World Trade Organization ruled on Tuesday partly in favor of Argentina in a dispute concerning the anti-dumping duties imposed by the European Union since 2013 on the biodiesel imported from the southern American country.

According to a panel report published on Tuesday, WTO upheld Argentina's claim that the reason stated by the EU authorities, during their anti-dumping investigation, for disregarding Argentine producers' costs of production of biodiesel does not constitute a "legally sufficient basis."

The EU, while constructing the Argentine producers' normal value, replaced the costs reported in the Argentine producers' records for soybeans, as raw materials for producing the biodiesel, with reference prices published by the Argentine Ministry of Agriculture.

The EU estimated the reference prices reflected the level of international prices and the price that would have prevailed in Argentina but for the distortion, while the report considered the EU included costs not associated with the production and sale of biodiesel in the calculation of the cost of production.

In addition, the WTO panel supported the claim that the EU imposed anti-dumping duties in excess of the margin of dumping that should have been established under the Anti-Dumping Agreement. However, it considered that the profit margin selected by the EU authorities was the result of a reasoned analysis.

Argentina filed a formal complaint in November 2013 at WTO against EU's anti-dumping measures on its biodiesel exports. The Argentine Foreign Ministry said the anti-dumping measure imposed by the EU covers a cost range of between 216.64 to 245.67 euros per ton, "leading to the direct and immediate closing of the European market to Argentine biodiesel." Endit