24/03/2009 (The New York Times) - Amid persistent talk of global protectionism these days, with Mexico, Russia and India tightening up on imports for one reason or another, the energy sector appeared fairly immune from the barriers — until now.

A front page article in The Houston Chronicle Monday warned that the American biodiesel industry will suffer from European barriers (which my colleague, Kate Galbraith, took note of last week), and several Texas companies and the Port of Houston are preparing for heavy losses.

Texas has 30 biodiesel plants, which convert vegetable oils to biodiesel.

The European Commission has decided that companies exporting biodiesel products will now have to pay as much as an additional 29 percent in anti-dumping tariffs. The tariffs result from complaints that American companies producing the fuel were collecting subsidies from both the United States and Europe last year, and then undercutting European producers.

While the United States government offers tax credits to companies that blend biodiesel with petroleum diesel, as much as 80 percent of American biodiesel production goes to Europe.