Sugar Ethanol Bioenergy Int- In a recent US Trade Representative (USTR) hearing in Washington, the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) outlined the harmful impacts of Brazil’s trade policies on the US ethanol industry and called on the Trump administration to pursue further actions to level the playing field.In July, the USTR initiated an investigation of Brazil, under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 to determine whether the acts, policies, and practices of the Government of Brazil are unreasonable or discriminatory and whether they burden or restrict US commerce.
RFA strongly believes a thorough investigation is justified and necessary, and we commend the USTR for bringing much-needed scrutiny to Brazil’s prejudicial and unreasonable actions,” RFA President and CEO Geoff Cooper testified.“Over the past eight years, Brazil has implemented tariff and non-tariff barriers specifically designed to block US-produced ethanol from entering the Brazilian marketplace. Whereas Brazil was once the world’s largest importer of US ethanol, the market has disintegrated over the past five years due to the imposition of numerous barriers.”Cooper added that policies such as the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) and state low-carbon fuel programs actually give preferential treatment to Brazilian sugarcane ethanol imports over US grain-based ethanol.
Growers Push to End Brazil’s Ethanol Tariff
The president of the Iowa Corn Growers Association told the Brownfield Network that he hopes the ethanol tariff dispute with Brazil will be resolved sooner rather than later. Stu Swanson said he is optimistic about a fair resolution to Brazil’s 18% tariff on US ethanol imports.
“We’ve got conversations between the governments here in the US and Brazil,” Swanson said. “I think we can find a way that we can get that solved.”Swanson noted that Brazil used to be one of the top consumers of US ethanol. “Now we are not exporting anything, and they were able to come in tariff-free into the US,” he said. “We’ll get that addressed too. It’s something farmers have been talking about, and they are demanding answers.”US ethanol exports to Brazil have dropped from USD 761 million in 2018 to USD 53 million in 2024, according to data from the National Corn Growers Association.
RFA Outlines Steps to Level the Playing Field
Cooper stressed five actions the RFA supports:
- Continuing negotiations focused on permanently removing the Brazilian tariff on imported ethanol.
- Until the Brazilian tariff on US ethanol is removed, fully enforcing the 50% tariff on Brazilian imports recently enacted by the Trump administration.
- Working with Brazil to eliminate the unfeasible barriers that block US ethanol producers from participating in the RenovaBio program.
- Collaborating with EPA to implement adjustments to RFS compliance credit values for ethanol imported from Brazil.
- Removing Brazil’s Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) designation.
Brazil exported 313,341 cubic metres (313 million litres) of ethanol to the US in 2024, according to Brazilian customs data, with US buyers favouring the sugarcane-based product’s lower carbon intensity compared to US corn ethanol in greenhouse gas–cutting target markets such as California.
