(DTN) -- Ethanol industry leaders want the Obama administration to launch a complaint with the World Trade Organization against China's anti-dumping investigation into dried distillers grains imported from the United States.
In a letter to President Barack Obama on Wednesday, Bob Dinneen, president and chief executive officer of the Renewable Fuels Association, and Tom Buis, chief executive officer of Growth Energy, said China's pursuits have hurt ethanol producers.
"The uncertainty and market risk resulting from China's actions has already triggered substantial financial losses for U.S. distiller's grains producers," the letter said. "Distiller's grains prices have plunged more than 25% since last summer, while prices for corn and other feedstuffs have been stable or even increased slightly.
"At a time when both U.S. ethanol producers and farmers are facing serious economic challenges, it is estimated that China's actions have already resulted in distillers grains losing $30 to $35 a ton in value. This is equivalent to an annualized aggregate loss of $1.2 billion to $1.6 billion to U.S. ethanol producers, many of whom are small businesses in rural America."
Dinneen and Buis said those losses would continue to mount "potentially to $50 to $60 a ton or more, if the anti-dumping and countervailing duty actions ultimately result in a total collapse of distiller's grains exports to China, meaning a loss to the U.S. economy of more than $2 billion."
Dinneen and Buis asked the president to direct the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, Department of Commerce and Department of Agriculture to "challenge both the process and preliminary determinations made by China's investigating authority through comments to MOFCOM (Ministry of Commerce) and through the World Trade Organization."
In addition, the groups asked the president to "work closely with the U.S. distiller's grain industry to mount an aggressive defense of our access to the Chinese livestock feed market throughout China's anti-dumping and countervailing duty investigations."
On Jan. 12, 2016, China filed anti-dumping and countervailing duty cases against the ethanol industry. DDG is a widely-used livestock feed and co-product of ethanol. In 2015, China was the largest foreign buyer of DDG produced in the United States -- representing about 50% of all DDG exports.