Brazil to seek lower US tariffs, accord on ethanol - Reuters

[Eugene]

Brazil to seek lower US tariffs, accord on ethanol
28 Feb 2007 21:26:28 GMT
Source: Reuters

By Raymond Colitt

BRASILIA, Feb 28 (Reuters) - Brazil will ask the United States to cut import tariffs
on ethanol during next week's visit by President George W. Bush and to help create
a global market for the biofuel, a senior official said on Wednesday.

Bush is expected to propose Brazilian-U.S. co-operation in the regional production and
trade of ethanol as part of a new policy initiative in Latin America during his six-day
visit to the region next week.

"We are interested in forming a global ethanol market; for that we need joint standards
... that's good for us and for them," Foreign Minister Celso Amorim told a news
conference.

-snip-

But Brazil will insist the United States lower its tariffs on ethanol imports, currently
at $0.54 a gallon, Amorim added.

-snip-

Full article: http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N28262025.htm

(United Press International)

No end to Brazil ethanol tariffs likely

WASHINGTON, Feb. 28 (UPI) -- The Bush administration does not back a change in tariffs
applied to Brazilian ethanol, a top Energy Department official said Wednesday.

"In the shorter term, I support no change in tariff," said Andy Karsner, assistant secretary
for energy efficiency and renewable energy, in a conference call with reporters. "Those
policies are on a clock and that clock is beyond the duration of the administration."

-snip-

There have been calls to end the tariffs on Brazilian ethanol because of the Bush
administration's ambitious plan for ethanol, which has driven up corn prices worldwide
to record levels. But, experts say, those tariffs are unlikely to be lifted because of
pressure from the U.S. farm lobby.

Full article: http://www.upi.com/Energy/view.php?StoryID=20070228-021515-6385r