The American Soybean Association (ASA) has signaled its support for an anti-dumping and countervailing duty petition filed yesterday by the National Biodiesel Board (NBB). The petition alleges that Argentine and Indonesian companies are flooding the U.S. market with dumped biodiesel—biodiesel sold at less than the cost of production—and subsidized biodiesel in violation of America’s trade laws. Soybean oil remains the primary biodiesel feedstock in the U.S., and the biodiesel industry provides a significant market for surplus soybean oil that is a co-product of protein meal production. ASA President Ron Moore, a soybean farmer from Roseville, Ill., confirmed ASA’s support for the NBB petition in a statement:

"Biodiesel imports from Argentina and Indonesia have flooded the U.S. market in recent years and these imports receive trade and market distorting subsidies in their home countries that provide an unfair advantage over U.S. biodiesel. Soybean farmers have a vested interest in the biodiesel industry, having made substantial investments over the past several decades to established and build a domestic biodiesel industry and market. We believe an investigation by the Department of Commerce and the International Trade Commission will show that unfair subsidies provided by Argentina and Indonesia are resulting in imports being unlawfully dumped on the U.S. market. We look forward to the appropriate anti-dumping and countervailing duties being imposed to remedy these unfair and unlawful practices.”