EU extends import duties on U.S. biodiesel to 2020

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union is extending anti-dumping and anti-subsidy duties imposed on U.S. biodiesel imports for a further five years, until September 2020, maintaining its defence against trade in the renewable fuel source. The bloc set the duties in 2009 on a number of U.S. producers of biodiesel, including Archer Daniels Midland Co and Cargill Inc [CARG.UL], effectively bringing to a halt $1 billion in annual trade. The EU decided there was still a risk of harm if the duties were lifted and so chose to extend them, an official EU journal stated on Tuesday. At issue was a U.S. tax credit of $1 per gallon of biodiesel produced, which the European Commission judged was harming European producers. (Reporting by Philip Blenkinsop; editing by Jussi Rosendahl)