Agriculture minister believes Brazil may waive tariff on American ethanol imports if it in turn exempts Brazilian sugar

Brazil may zero the tariff on imports of American ethanol if the United States agrees to exempt Brazilian sugar from taxes. This statement was made by the Secretary of International Affairs of the Ministry of Agriculture, Orlando Leite Ribeiro. According to him, this is the request of the sugar and alcohol plants since the resumption of discussions on the issue, under pressure from President Donald Trump.

In an interview with the newspaper, O Estado de São Paulo, Ribeiro stated: “We cannot talk about reciprocity only in sectors that interest one of the parties. In this sense, Brazil is willing to grant zero tariffs for the importation of ethanol from the USA, as long as they are willing to grant the same treatment for Brazilian sugar “.

It is worth noting that in the United States, ethanol production uses corn as a raw material, while in Brazil, sugar, and ethanol are manufactured mainly from sugarcane, although the national supply of corn ethanol is growing. At the end of August, the deadline ends for the US to be able to sell up to 750 million liters of ethanol per year to Brazil without any tariff. The extra-quota rate is 20%.

Source: Valor Econômico

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