RFA wants USTR to get Brazil to drop “trade-distorting” policies

In Washington, the Renewable Fuels Association wants Brazil to remove policies it says are trade-distorting, and it’s seeking help from the Obama administration. In a letter to U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk, RFA President and CEO Bob Dinneen asks that Kirk’s office help persuade Brazil to remove a tariff in the state of Sao Paulo that discriminates against many imports, as well as to cancel plans to reduce ethanol blend volumes in Brazil’s gasoline from 25% to 18%. Dinneen writes that such policies are cutting U.S. ethanol exports to Brazil.