Joco Today

U.S. Senator Roger Marshall, M.D., has led a letter to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), and the United States Trade Representative (USTR) expressing concerns over the significant increase in used cooking oil imports from China. Recent news reports suggest that these imports might include virgin vegetable oils fraudulently labeled as used cooking oil to exploit tax incentives and other renewable biofuels incentives. This shift in imports is contributing to lower prices for oilseeds in America's heartland.

Senator Marshall was joined by Senators Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Pete Ricketts (R-NE), Deb Fischer (R-NE), Chuck Grassley (R-IA), and Joni Ernst (R-IA) in sending the letter. The Senators stated, "Since 2020, in response to demand for renewable fuels, the U.S. has gone from importing less than 200 million pounds of UCO per year to importing over 3 billion pounds in 2023, with more than 50 percent of these imports coming from China."

They added, "As evidenced in recent news coverage, there is concern by some in the renewable fuels industry that large amounts of imported UCO may be a blend of UCO with virgin vegetable oils such as palm oil, which is directly linked to deforestation in Southeast Asia. This would constitute fraudulent value distortion of the commodity designed to take advantage of U.S. tax incentives in addition to Renewable Identification Number (RIN) fraud under the RFS."

The Senators emphasized that if these concerns are true, it would have a particularly punitive effect on U.S. agriculture since imported UCO bears a lower carbon intensity score than domestically produced agricultural feedstocks.

The letter highlights that USDA and EPA play roles in developing renewable fuels policy and assisting IRS and Treasury Department guidance for tax credits for renewable fuels. The Senators assert that these agencies must help maintain program integrity by ensuring American tax dollars do not subsidize counterfeit feedstocks.

They also noted that USTR and CBP are responsible for policing imports to ensure foreign entities do not mislabel their products when entering the country.

The full letter addressed to key officials including Administrator Michael S. Regan of EPA, Secretary Tom Vilsack of USDA, United States Trade Representative Katherine Tai, and Commissioner Troy A. Miller outlines several inquiries about actions taken regarding Chinese UCO imports.