The U.S. Trade Representative office is hosting a public hearing regarding the Section 301 unfair trading practices investigation with Brazil. Multiple U.S. ethanol industry officials are testifying, such as Geoff Cooper, President and CEO of the Renewable Fuels Association. The hearing will cover ethanol market access and illegal deforestation.
“RFA strongly believes a thorough investigation is justified and necessary, and we commend the U.S. Trade Representative for bringing much-needed scrutiny to Brazil’s prejudicial and unreasonable actions,” Cooper stated.
“Over the past eight years, Brazil has implemented tariff and non-tariff barriers specifically designed to block U.S.-produced ethanol from entering the Brazilian marketplace. Whereas Brazil was once the world’s largest importer of U.S. ethanol, the market has disintegrated over the past five years due to the imposition of numerous barriers.”
Cooper went on to state that “Brazilian ethanol has had virtually unfettered access to the U.S. market for the past 14 years, facing only a 2.5 percent ad valorem duty. In fact, policies like the RFS and state low carbon fuel programs actually give preferential treatment to Brazilian sugarcane ethanol imports over U.S. grain-based ethanol.”
Cooper's statement affirmed that the RFA supports negotiating the removal of Brazilian tariffs on imported ethanol while leaving the recent 50% Brazilian import tariff intact. The RFA also hopes to remove obstacles to U.S. ethanol producers by ending Brazil's Generalized System of Preferences designation and adjusting EPA RFS compliance credit values for Brazilian ethanol.
In addition to the Renewable Fuels Association, representatives from the American Sugarbeet Growers Association, U.S. Grains & Bioproducts Council, and National Corn Growers Association are in attendance.