Brazil’s Chamber of Foreign Trade announces 30-day delay on US ethanol import decision, US trade bodies react

The Executive Management Committee of CAMEX, Brazil’s Chamber of Foreign Trade, has announced that a decision on a pending proposal to impose a 20% tariff on US ethanol imports will be delayed for 30-days.

The proposal would allow 500 million litres annually of US ethanol imports (132.1 million gallons) before triggering the tariff.  This has prompted the following is a joint statement on this action from US Grains Council (USGC) president and CEO Tom Sleight, Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) President and CEO Bob Dinneen and Growth Energy CEO Emily Skor:

“We are encouraged to see Brazil’s postponement on a decision regarding a pending proposal to impose tariffs on U.S. ethanol imports. This decision should not be taken lightly, as imposing tariffs on U.S. ethanol imports will hurt Brazilian consumers by driving up their costs at the pump.

“Additionally, this action on US ethanol imports will go against Brazil’s own longstanding view that ethanol tariffs are inappropriate and will harm the development of the global ethanol industry.

“We will continue to work towards educating Brazilian policymakers on how misguided this tariff would be, which would harm consumers by denying them access to the lowest cost, cleanest and highest octane source of fuel in the world. This proposal, if implemented, would have wide-ranging and long-standing impacts on both our industries and the global fuel supply.”

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