The European Commission has decided to introduce additional taxes, known as anti-dumping duties, which can amount to up to 36.4 percent on the import of biodiesel from China, according to Transport and Environment. Biodiesel is a renewable biofuel produced from vegetable oils or animal fats, which does not have to be used exclusively on its own, but can also be combined with traditional diesel.
Anti-dumping duties are taxes that a country or an economic union, which is the case here, imposes on imported products that are sold at prices lower than their normal market value, which can distort competition and harm domestic industries.
In this case, biodiesel is produced from already used cooking oil (UCO), but there is a suspicion that some of the imported oil is mislabeled and that it is actually cheaper palm oil, the production of which is often linked to deforestation. The introduction of these tariffs should help protect European biodiesel production from unfair competition and ensure fair market conditions, although it is questionable whether taxes alone can fully solve the problem.
In the last two years, a significant part of the biodiesel that Europe imports comes from China – as much as 60 percent of the total of more than 80 percent of the total biodiesel imports into Europe. This large import from China led to a drastic drop in prices on the European market, from around 2,250 euros per ton to only 1,100 euros, which caused problems within the biofuel market, according to Transport and Environment..
Due to these market activities and Europe’s excessive dependence on oil from China, there are more proposals on how, in addition to taxes, to check the products arriving on the European market. In this way, the EU would reduce the risk of fraud and protect the domestic industry from unfair competition, supporting sustainable and responsible production of biofuels.
Energy portal
Source: energetskiportal.rs
