Clean energy trade war? US investigating China clean energy supports, Australia finds US dumping of biodiesel

In Washington and Canberra, more signs of an emerging trade war over clean energy surfaced when the US announced an investigation into Chinese supports for clean energy manufacturing, while Australia commenced an investigation into US biodiesel dumping. The United Steelworkers in the US filed the WTO complaint against China, saying that supports for  wind and solar components, batteries, energy-efficient vehicles and other goods violated international trade rules.

Conversely, the CEO of Customs and Border Protection has found in favor of Australia’s Biodiesel Producers Limited, finding that there are sufficient grounds for the publication of a dumping duty notice and a countervailing duty notice, with a preliminary dumping margin set at 40%.   The final report will be given to the Minister for Home Affairs with recommendations on or before 22 December 2010. The report cited the size of the dumping and subsidy margins as factors in the decision.