releases: https://www.heitkamp.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ContentRecord_id=3164D537-0420-4639-B6B2-2ADBB29FBAEF
Data license: MIT · Data source: dwillis/congress-press
This data as json
| url | title | date | year | month | party | chamber | state | member_name | bioguide_id | domain | scraper | source | date_source | text | has_text | collected_at | updated_at |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| https://www.heitkamp.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ContentRecord_id=3164D537-0420-4639-B6B2-2ADBB29FBAEF | Heitkamp: New Crackdown on Unfairly Subsidized Biodiesel Imports will Boost ND Jobs | 2017-12-05 | 2017 | 2017-12 | Democrat | House | ND | Heidi Heitkamp | H001069 | www.heitkamp.senate.gov | legacy | WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Heidi Heitkamp today released the following statement on the U.S. International Trade Commission’s (ITC) approval of import duties on biodiesel from Argentina and Indonesia, following Heitkamp’s testimony at a recent ITC hearing where she made the case that imports from those countries were unfairly subsidized and threatening jobs in North Dakota. “This decision is a win for North Dakota farm and biodiesel production jobs, and a powerful signal that we won’t tolerate unfair trade practices that hurt American jobs,” Heitkamp said. “Our farmers and those employed by the biodiesel industry work hard every day to grow this important part of our domestic energy strategy. Producers like ADM based out of Velva – which produces 75 million gallons of biodiesel a year – are at the forefront of innovation in the renewable fuel industry, and we must continue to support this home-grown source of energy and jobs.” In addition to her testimony at the ITC hearing last month, Heitkamp sent a letter to U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross in September, urging him to take action to protect U.S. producers from these unfairly subsidized imports. Click here to read her letter to Secretary Ross. According to a study conducted last year by LMC International and released by the National Biodiesel Board, the 2.1 billion gallons of biodiesel and renewable diesel used by Americans in 2015 supported 47,400 jobs and $1.9 billion in wages, and had an $8.4 billion economic impact. In North Dakota, about 50 percent of corn is turned into ethanol, according to the North Dakota Corn Growers Association, reinforcing how important it is that we maintain a robust biofuels market through the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS). In October, Heitkamp successfully fought to protect biofuel production targets in the RFS, leading a bipartisan letter to the administration opposing proposed cuts to production levels in 2018. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) had proposed holding the biomass-based diesel volume stagnant for 2019 and reducing the advanced biofuel volume for 2018, leaving potential growth in the industry on the table and threatening near-term job losses in rural America. EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt had previously pledged to support the RFS, and Heitkamp reinforced the need to protect it in a meeting with Pruitt prior to his confirmation. A member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Heitkamp has been a vocal advocate for biodiesel and ethanol – industries that support over 400,000 American jobs, including many in North Dakota. Heitkamp has fought for the EPA to provide certainty to farmers and biofuels workers, and has continually pressed the agency to issue a strong RFS rule. ### | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z |