USTR Responds to Brazil’s Unfair Trade Practices

The U.S. Trade Representative’s decision, which imposes tariffs of 25 percent on most goods from Brazil, followed a year-long investigation into policies that ban American ethanol from Brazil’s market. According to Growth Energy, Brazil has gone beyond tariffs and engaged in systematic discrimination against U.S. biofuels under Brazil’s clean fuel program, RenovaBio, while disguising deforestation by Brazilian producers. Those practices have stoked unfounded claims about land use change attributed to U.S. ethanol, harming U.S. exports to the United Kingdom, Japan, and the European Union. “For nearly a decade, Brazil has unfairly blocked U.S. ethanol imports, while their own producers enjoy complete and unfettered access to American markets,” says Growth Energy CEO Emily Skor. “That imbalance has caused extraordinary harm to U.S. farmers and ethanol producers.” Growth Energy applauds the Trump administration for standing up against Brazil. The organization says it looks forward to working with USTR on additional remedies to level the playing field for American farm exports.