On Thursday, June 13, the Foreign Trade Chamber at Brazil’s Ministry of the Economy (CAMEX) upheld an 18 percent tariff on U.S. ethanol.
With support from the Brazil Association of Fuel Importers (ABICOM), the U.S. ethanol industry and the U.S. government previously submitted comments advocating for permanent tariff removal during a public consultation period that ended on April 11. Together, the U.S. ethanol industry – including the U.S. Grains Council, Growth Energy and the Renewable Fuels Association—reacted to CAMEX’s decision with the following statement:
“We remain extremely disappointed with this result and urge CAMEX and the Brazilian government to remove tariff barriers on U.S. ethanol and use this as an opportunity to strengthen the bilateral agenda and stimulate trade cooperation between Brazil and the United States. This tariff has placed a heavy financial burden on Brazilian consumers in a misdirected effort to protect the domestic Brazilian ethanol industry, which enjoys free and increasing access to the U.S. market.
“The U.S. industry remains united in seeking parity with Brazilian exports with reciprocal market access and will seek to take additional measures to rectify this unfair tariff treatment.
“We are committed to striving for fair and balanced trade in ethanol with Brazil.”
About The U.S. Grains Council
The U.S. Grains Council develops export markets for U.S. barley, corn, sorghum and related products including distiller’s dried grains with solubles (DDGS) and ethanol. With full-time presence in 28 locations, the Council operates programs in more than 50 countries and the European Union. The Council believes exports are vital to global economic development and to U.S. agriculture’s profitability. Detailed information about the Council and its programs is online at www.grains.org.