Senator Grassley leads group urging USTR to stand up to Brazilian ethanol import policy

September 19, 2017 |

In Washington, Sen. Chuck Grassley, a senior member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, led a bipartisan group of senators, including Sens. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), Deb Fischer (R-Neb.), Joe Donnelly (D-Ind.), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), Al Franken (D-Minn.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), Ben Sasse (R-Neb.) and Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), urging U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer to work with the Brazilian government to end a recently reinstated 20 percent tariff on ethanol imports in excess of 600 million liters (158 million gallons) annually. In 2016, the United States exported 264 million gallons of ethanol to Brazil, and current trends indicate 2017 could be even larger for U.S. producers. The United States is the primary exporter of ethanol into Brazil. U.S. producers called Brazil’s tariff plan “a trade barrier that threatens over $750 million in U.S. exports and American jobs.”

Category: Policy

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