The Canada Border Services Agency has launched an investigation into alleged dumping and subsidizing of renewable diesel from the U.S. into the Canadian market.
The CBSA announced the investigation on March 6th, following a complaint filed last year by Calgary, Alta.-based Tidewater Renewables Ltd.
The agency says it will investigate whether renewable diesel from the U.S. is being dumped and/or subsidized and will make preliminary decisions within 90 days, at which time provisional duties may be applied to U.S. imports.
The investigation “is an important step in levelling the unfair trade environment and offsetting unfair trade practices that have caused a flood of subsidized and dumped renewable diesel into Canada, significantly undermining the Canadian industry,” says Tidewater CEO Jeremy Baines, in a statement.
If provisional duties are applied, final duties could potentially be imposed as soon as September of this year, pending a ruling from the Canadian International Trade Tribunal, the company says.
“If final duties are imposed at the levels expected by management, valued between $0.50 and $0.80 per litre of renewable diesel imported from the United States, these duties would support long-term market stability for Tidewater Renewables’ renewable diesel production and its related emission credits,” reads a company statement.
Biodiesel is on the list of $125 billion worth of U.S. products that Finance Canada has proposed applying a 25 per cent tariff to in response to tariffs from the Trump administration, but renewable diesel was not included on the list.
Since Tidewater’s complaint was filed prior to Trump taking office and the March 4 tariffs, any countervail or anti-dumping penalties would be on top of counter-tariffs.
According to the USDA, Canada’s renewable diesel imports in 2024 grew to 1,382 million litres, up from 851 million in 2023 and 380 million in 2022, driven by the Government of Canada’s Clean Fuel Regulations.
