China’s trade tensions with the European Union could intensify further as the bloc is set to levy provisional duties of up to 36.4% on biodiesel imports from China. The provisional tariffs will come into effect on August 16, but the investigation will continue until February, when definitive duties for five years could be set. China has raised deep concerns regarding the EU’s protectionist actions in the biodiesel sector, said He Yongqian, Spokeswoman for the Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM). Biodiesel is a renewable, biodegradable fuel manufactured domestically from vegetable oils, animal fats or recycled restaurant grease. The EU, as the largest consumer of biodiesel globally, imports biodiesel from China to meet its immense consumption needs, hastening its own green transformation and energy efficiency objectives, He added. The EU market for biodiesel is worth €31 billion annually, providing a renewable alternative to fossil fuels in the EU’s transport sector and improving the bloc’s energy security.
The European Commission proposed setting provisional tariffs of between 12.8% and 36.4% on July 19. The proposed duties for biodiesel are 12.8% for EcoCeres Group products, 36.4% for Jiaao Group, including Zhejiang Jiaao Enproenergy, and 25.4% for exports by Zhuoyue Group, including Longyan Zhuoyue New Energy Co. The European Biodiesel Board, which lodged the complaint, said in July that a flood of biodiesel from China was having a devastating effect on EU production. China’s biodiesel industry has thrived due to its unique domestic conditions, particularly its vast food market. The large-scale collection of restaurant grease underpins China’s capabilities in biodiesel production and provides pricing advantages, said Dong Yifan, Assistant Research Fellow at the Institute of European Studies at the Beijing-based China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations.
Since 2008, the EU has repeatedly resorted to a variety of trade remedy measures, including anti-dumping, countervailing and anti-circumvention duties, against biodiesel products from various trade partners such as the United States, Canada, Indonesia and Argentina, said Cui Fan, Professor at the University of International Business and Economics in Beijing, the China Daily reports
Separately, China's Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) has issued questionnaires on anti-dumping cases related to pork and pig by-products imported from the EU as part of the Ministry's anti-dumping probe into EU pork that started on June 17. On July 18, the Ministry announced that investigating authorities will use a sampling method in the anti-dumping probe into EU pork, and based on initial sampling, the investigation identified three EU exporters – Danish Crown, Vion Boxtel and Litera Meat – as sampled exporters, as well as 24 domestic producers as sampled domestic enterprises. The China Animal Agriculture Association on June 6, on behalf of the Chinese pork and pig by-products industry, submitted an application for an anti-dumping investigation into certain pork and pig by-products originating from the EU. The investigation is expected to end before June 17, 2025, the Global Times reports.
