United States - BRUSSELS, April 18 (Reuters) - European biodiesel producers plan to ask the European Commission next week to hit U.S. imports with punitive duties, potentially triggering a new transatlantic trade row, industry officials said on Friday.

"We want to do it next week although it depends on a couple of things," one of the officials with the European Biodiesel Board (EBB) said.

European producers have long said they intend to ask the EU executive to impose duties on U.S. biodiesel imports.

The EBB officials, who asked not to be named, said the complaint would ask for two different types of duties to be imposed -- anti-dumping duties and countervailing duties which are levied when illegal subsidies are detected.

EU producers have said their U.S. rivals benefit from big subsidies when they blend biodiesel with small amounts of mineral diesel in the United States, creating unfair competition that has put much of the European industry out of business.

U.S. producers deny their exports are the main reason behind the problems of European producers which has also been caused by new biodiesel taxes in Germany.

They also argue that imposing duties on U.S. imports would fly in the face of the EU's plan to boost the use of biofuel to 10 percent of all transport fuel consumption by 2020, a key part of the bloc's efforts to fight climate change.

Once it receives a formal request for duties, the European Commission may investigate whether they are justified and can imposes duties within months.

(Reporting by William Schomberg)

04.18.08, 10:12 AM ET

Source: www.reuters