A European Union court delivered a series of rulings yesterday that annulled anti-dumping duties imposed on exporters of biodiesel from Indonesia and Argentina.

The European Union in November 2013 set duties of 8.8 to 20.5 percent for Indonesian producers and between 22.0 and 25.7 percent for Argentinian producers, in both cases to apply for five years.

The EU argued that by imposing an export duty on the raw product, soybeans in the case of Argentina and palm oil for Indonesia, they gave an advantage to domestic producers, which allowed them then to "dump" product at unfairly low prices.

Argentina and Indonesia, major exporters of biodiesel, have called the EU measures protectionist.

The cases have brought legal challenges, with the General Court of the European Union, the lower of the two EU courts, issuing its ruling yesterday.

It said that the prices of the raw materials —palm oil or soybeans — were not regulated and that the EU had failed to establish that there was appreciable distortion of the prices as a result of the differential export tax system.

Both Argentina and Indonesia have brought complaints before the World Trade Organization (WTO), with the South American country securing rulings in favour of several of its claims.

Some trade lawyers say the ruling could have far wider implications and determine future EU trade relations with China.

The European Union, in trying not to treat China as a special case, has said it could use international benchmark prices to work out the costs of producers, for example of steel, to assess whether manufacturers there are dumping product or benefitting from unfair subsidies.

The World Trade Organization (WTO)in March ruled in favour of Argentina in a series of complaints the country filed with the international body, challenging punitive duties by the European Union on its biodiesel imports.

The WTO, however, said the EU was not violating its rules.

In 2013, the then ruling administration of Cristina Fernández de Kirchner filed a complaint with the World Trade Organization over the European Union's decision to slap anti-dumping duties on Argentina’s biodiesel.

Duties ranged between 22 percent and 25.7 percent and led to a plunge of more than 75 percent of the Argentine biodiesel exports. The EU had said it suspected Argentina of illegally dumping biofuel on the EU market, an allegation that Argentina says left producers running at half their capacity.

Argentina’s Foreign Ministry called the duties “protectionist” and said the European bloc was seeking to shelter inefficient local producers.