EU appeals decision invalidating duties on US ethanol imports

In Washington, the Renewable Fuels Association and Growth Energy are disappointed with the Aug. 26 decision by the European Commission to file an appeal with the EU General Court related to its June 2016 ruling invalidating certain ethanol duties. That ruling annulled the European Union’s 9.5 percent antidumping duty on ethanol imported from the United States produced by entities that had been selected as part of a sample group in an antidumping investigation. During the appeal process, the duty will remain on ethanol generated by these producers and all other American ethanol entering the European Union.

The duty has been in place since February 2013. On June 9, the EU General Court ruled that the five-year antidumping duty 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 applied a countrywide rate to all parties, even those for which it had more specific information. This action is in direct violation of both the European Commission’s own rules and longstanding World Trade Organization precedent. The EC had approximately two months from the June 9 court ruling to appeal.