European Commission proposes duties on imports of U.S. bioethanol
BRUSSELS, Jan 22 (Reuters) - The European Commission has proposed an unusual country-wide duty on all U.S. producers of bioethanol after a 14-month investigation into complaints that exporters used state subsidies to sell the fuel to Europe at illegally low prices.
The European Union's executive body proposed definitive anti-dumping duties of 9.5 percent on all bioethanol coming from the United States, according to the proposal document seen by Reuters on Tuesday.
Since most bioethanol is a component in blended fuel, the proposal seeks a fixed charge of 62.30 euros per net tonne of bioethanol present in fuel.
The bloc imports more than one billion litres annually from the United States, the world's largest producer.
(Reporting by Ethan Bilby; Editing by Anthony Barker)