The Biodiesel Industry has been whipped around by government for many years.
Seen initially as a better fuel than ethanol, it can?t compete with petroleum diesel if the feed stock is soybean oil.
So, every time a lawmaker offers a subsidy for biodiesel, there is joy.
But there is also pain in the “blind blender’s credit” that has been subsidizing imported biodiesel (from Argentina and Indonesia) just like home grown.
Ben Nuelle spoke with Anne Steckel from the National Biodiesel Board in Washington, D.C.
“We’re very happy that senators Grassley, as well as more than a dozen other senators introduced legislation to revise and extend the biodiesel’s tax credit it into a producers tax credit,” Steckel said. “Having a producer tax credit is incredibly important to to the biodiesel’s industry because it insures that only fuels that is produced in the U.S. has access to U.S. tax dollars.”
Right now there is a blenders tax credit that anyone who is blending the fuel receiving that dollar a gallon tax credit. “We don’t think that makes any sense because then you have imported product getting access to our U.S. tax dollars and that’s not right,” Steckel exclaimed.
An anti-dumping suit was just filed with the International Trade Commission. Steckel testified before the trade commission about the detrimental effects of the dumped product from Argentina and Indonesia is having on the industry.
“They displace our domestic product because they are all these cheap prices, and that’s not fair to our producers at home. We are taking the appropriate remedies with the International Trade Commission to say that they can’t dump this in our markets,” Steckel stated.
