The Chinese Ministry of Commerce said it will maintain anti-dumping and anti-subsidy tariffs on imports of distillers grains (DDGS) from the United States.

The ministry will conduct a review on the anti-dumping and anti-subsidy measures imposed on DDGS imports requested by the China Alcoholic Drinks Association on behalf of China’s dried corn distiller’s grains industry. Any interested party can submit suggestions and evidence to the review within 20 days.

China’s first investigation started in 2011 to assess wheter or not dumping is damaging China’s own DDGS industry. China's tariffs on U.S. DDGS were first implemented in 2016 at a rate of 33.8%, and its imports of the feed ingredient fell sharply. Anti-dumping duties were raised to the current level of 42.2-53.7% in January 2017, while the anti-subsidy tariffs were raised to 11.2-12% from 10.0-10.7%.

According to the U.S. Grains Council, DDGS exports have exploded from 5 million tons in 2009 to more than 11 million metric tons in 69 countries in 2020/2021. Mexico purchased the bulk of DDGS exports, consisting of more than 18% of the export market, while Vietnam was the second largest importer. South Korea, Turkey and Indonesia round out the top five importers for 2020/2021.