China trade case could challenge ethanol

Des Moines Register
5:20 PM, Feb 7, 2011 by Philip Brasher

An anti-dumping case that China initiated late last year could wind up being a challenge to the bottom line of U.S. ethanol plants, according to congressional analysts. China is pursuing an investigation against dried distillers grains, a feed product that is the major byproduct of making fuel ethanol. The charges are thought to be in retaliation for U.S. charges against Chinese wind power subsidies, according to news reports.

China is the third largest importer of U.S. distillers grains and a loss of that market would cut the profit margins of ethanol producers, according to a report on biofuel policy issues by the Congressional Research Service, a nonpartisan agency. The ethanol industry could face yet another trade issue, if Brazil challenges the legality of the U.S. import tariff.

Read more