On June 9, the EU General Court delivered its ruling on a joint complaint filed in May 2013 by Growth Energy (GE) and Renewable Fuels Association (RFA), both trade associations representing US ethanol producer interests, against EU countrywide 9.5 percent anti-dumping duties on all ethanol imports originating from the US.
In February 2013 the EU introduced definitive anti-dumping duties on US ethanol, after an investigation had shown that US exporters were increasing their EU market share by systematically undercutting EU prices. The plaintiffs had requested that the measures be revoked, claiming that they violated the EU’s own anti-dumping rules and thus unfairly shut out US ethanol producers from accessing the European market, which before the penalty was imposed had represented a 300 million gallon market.
The EU General Court ruled that the five-year anti-dumping duty of US$83.03 per tonne was invalid for five US producers because the European Commission (EC) was required by EU law to give each sampled US company its own anti-dumping rate. Instead, the EC applied its countrywide rate on all parties, in violation of both the EC’s own rules and standing World Trade Organization (WTO) precedent.
– The anti-dumping duty should have never been assessed, we feel vindicated, said Bob Dinneen, President and CEO for RFA.
– From the beginning, we believed the implementation of an EU duty on imported ethanol violated EU law, said Emily Skor, CEO for Growth Energy.
However the EU Court’s decision also means that the majority of the claims made by complainants the US industry have been rejected and furthermore, the Court does not call into question the legitimacy and necessity of the anti-dumping duties themselves.
– ePURE welcomes the fact that the Court’s judgment did not put into question the legitimacy of the EU anti-dumping duties imposed on US ethanol. We remain convinced that the measures have always been and still are fully justified, said Robert Wright, Secretary-General of the European Renewable Ethanol Association (ePURE).
The ruling is not yet in effect and the EC has until around August 2016 to decide if it is to appeal the General Court’s ruling or revisit the methodology in line with this ruling.
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