Bipartisan Letter Asks Tai to Push Brazil on Ethanol

Rep. Darin LaHood, R-Ill., and 20 other members of the House of Representatives, mostly from the Midwest, asked U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai to make the ethanol export market in Brazil a priority, because Brazil has both non-tariff barriers and tariffs on U.S. ethanol exports.

They noted that U.S. ethanol has not been approved for Brazil's RenovaBio biofuel program, and that a 16% tariff on U.S. ethanol returned Feb. 1 after an 11-month hiatus. Next year, the tariff is scheduled to rise to 18%.

"This tariff increase is especially concerning given the duty-free treatment Brazilian ethanol exports receive in the U.S. market," they wrote.

If Tai is not able to get Brazil to change its policies, and "Brazil continues with its unfair treatment of American ethanol," the lawmakers said they "stand ready to work with" USTR "to consider measures that protect U.S. farmers and biofuels producers and counter these unfair trade practices."