The Trump administration says it is investigating Brazil’s trading practices.
Earlier this week, U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer announced that his office is investigating Brazil and their trade policies—calling them “unfair.”
“We’re pleased to see that our Trade Representative and others in the administration are starting to address this fairness issue.” says Chris Bliley, Senior Vice President of Regulatory Affairs with Growth Energy.
One major point of contention is Brazil’s 18-percent tariff on U.S. ethanol.
“We’ve had concerns about that mainly because Brazil has a tariff on U.S. ethanol, U.S. corn ethanol, going to Brazil, and we don’t have the same tariff in the U.S. And so, certainly, the Trump administration has been very engaged on this fairness issue,” he says.
Bliley adds that there are additional grievances regarding the U.S. ethanol trade with Brazil that must be addressed.
“I think one of the other concerns we have is that Brazilian sugarcane ethanol can get an advanced biofuel RIN where corn starch ethanol is not, and so that’s an issue that we’ve been working on as well. And hopefully, we can return to parity between the two markets,” says Bliley.
Last week, President Trump announced a 50-percent tariff on Brazilian imports starting on August 1st. Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva responded that his country would match any increase in tariffs from the U.S.
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