(Reuters)— China’s commerce ministry said it will continue to impose anti-dumping and anti-subsidy tariffs on dried distillers grain imported from the United States for another five years.
The move, widely expected by the industry, keeps tariffs amounting to as much as 66 percent on the animal feed ingredient, after they expired in 2021 and were followed by a one-year review period ending on Jan. 11.
DDGs are a protein-rich byproduct from ethanol production that is fed to animals.
Chinese ethanol producers are struggling under high prices of corn, the main raw material, and weak domestic consumption, said Rosa Wang, an analyst at Shanghai JC Intelligence Co Ltd.
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The ethanol branch of the China Alcohol Industry Association welcomed the Jan. 11 announcement.
“Over the past five years, the double duties have achieved remarkable results, effectively curbing the unfair trade of distillers grains from the United States and ensuring the healthy development of the domestic distiller’s grains industry,” it said in a statement on the association’s official Wechat account.
“If the anti-subsidy and anti-dumping measures are terminated, it is very likely that the U.S. will again export large quantities of DDGs to China at a low price and may continue or cause damage to the domestic industry again,” it added.
Continued tariffs are not expected to have a significant impact on U.S. exporters who have shifted sales to other markets such as South Korea and Mexico since China implemented the duties in 2016.
