Taxes

South Korea’s government applies several taxes on refined petroleum products, including diesel. However, biodiesel is not taxed.

In addition to domestic used cooking oil, the country uses imported soybean oil as biodiesel feedstock. A general import tariff of 5% is applied to crude soybean oil for biodiesel production (HS code 1507.10.2000) and refined soybean oil for biodiesel production (HS code 1507.90.1020) starting January 2024.

Soybean oil imported from preferred countries, including the U.S., China, and the ASEAN[1] member countries, is subject to a 0% import tariff.

[1] Association of Southeast Asian Nations