Indonesia asked the World Trade Organization (WTO) August 15 to dispute tariffs imposed by the EU on imports of biodiesel fuel from the Southeast Asian country.

Indonesia argued that the EU’s duties and the investigation that led to the bloc imposing the tariffs are inconsistent with WTO provisions, according to Reuters.

Djatmiko Bris Witjaksono, the director general of international trade cooperation for Indonesia's Ministry of Trade, said the EU has enforced tariffs ranging from 8% to 18% on Indonesian biodiesel fuel since 2019. As a result, Indonesia’s total biodiesel exports fell by 28% from 2018 to 2019. The EU’s share of Indonesia's biodiesel fuel imports fell by 7% during the same period.

Indonesia is the world’s biggest producer of palm oil, a product that is used to make biodiesel fuel. The EU is Indonesia’s third biggest purchaser of palm oil products.

"The imposition of the import duties has caused serious damage to Indonesian industry, especially when the global economy has only started to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic," Djatmiko said August 15.

During 2022, Indonesia shipped 435,827 tons of biodiesel fuel around the globe with 22.47% of those exports going to the EU.