EU accused of palm oil ‘trade war’

BRUSSELS: Malaysia on Monday accused the EU of launching a “trade war” over a plan to curb the use of palm oil in biofuels and threatened retaliatory action at the WTO. The Southeast Asian country is the world’s second biggest palm oil producer after Indonesia and would be hit hard by the EU’s plan to phase out its use in biofuels by 2030. Teresa Kok, the Malaysian minister responsible for palm oil, is beginning a tour of European capitals to press her case but vowed that her government would fight back if the EU did not back down. “We see this as a form of trade war by the EU against Malaysia and Indonedia as palm oil producing countries,” she told AFP. “We will definitely look at what are the kinds of trade items that we import from Europe and we will be looking at other countries (to source them).” Kok said Malaysia would consult with Indonesia before looking what action could be launched at the WTO.  

Published in The Express Tribune, May 7^th, 2019.

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