US House members seeks USTR support on TTIP negotiations for ethanol access

In Washington, nine U.S. House members sent a letter to U.S. Trade Ambassador Michael Froman last week, urging him to examine opportunities to reduce any tariffs on U.S. produced energy, including ethanol, during the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (T-Tip) negotiations.

The European Commission began an ethanol antidumping investigation in October 2011 in response to a complaint lodged by European ethanol trade group ePURE.  In May 2013, RFA and Growth Energy filed a complaint with the General Court in Luxembourg, challenging the Commission’s decision to impose a 9.6 percent antidumping duty on all ethanol imported from the United States. The challenge is still being litigated.

Despite repeated requests, the U.S. Trade Representative’s Office has so far declined to file a complaint with the World Trade Organization challenging the legality of the duties.