US and Brazil to cooperate on ethanol
President Bush and Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva agreed to cooperate to promote ethanol in the Americas as an alternative to oil. The agreement also aims to increase cooperation on biofuels technology and to develop international biofuels standards.
reduction the US 54-cent-per-gallon tariff on Brazilian sugar-cane ethanol
imports. Brazil wants the US to lower that tariff, but according to National
Farmers Union President Tom Buis, ethanol producers may get around the tariff by
channelling Brazilian ethanol through other countries.
“It is
additionally troubling to see press reports that this new pact will open the
door for foreign ethanol producers to by-pass the 54-cent-per-gallon ethanol
tariff by simply importing Brazilian sugarcane and processing it in the
Caribbean, which is exempt from the tariff,” he says. “The current tariff
ensures U.S. taxpayer dollars do not subsidize foreign-produced
ethanol.”
The Renewable Fuels Association is not opposed to the
agreement, although Monte Shaw, executive director of the Iowa Renewable Fuels
Association, said, “We’ll be watching very closely to make sure that someone
doesn’t morph this into a mechanism or a tool for sucking US taxpayer dollars to
Brazil or other countries.”
Related links:
Renewable Fuels Association
Dossier AllAbout Bio
Energy
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