(12/03/2007) No reduction on 54-Cent A Gallon Ethanol Import Duty

On Friday Dow Jones reported that U.S. President George W. Bush that the U.S. won't relent to pressure to cut or eliminate
its $0.54-a-gallon tariff on ethanol imports, and said deadlines
shouldn't be placed on long-stalled Doha trade talks.

"It's not going to happen," Bush said of a potential ethanol
tariff cut. "The law doesn't end until 2009," when it will be up
for congressional review.
He was speaking at a press conference with Brazilian President
Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, hours after the U.S. and Brazil signed
a memorandum of understanding on promoting the development of biofuels as an alternative to petroleum. Though the pact doesn't address the possible reduction of U.S. import tariffs, Brazil is
pushing the U.S. to cut the $0.54-a-gallon tariff on imported ethanol. Asked whether he had persuaded Bush on the tariff issue, Lula said, "If I had that capacity for persuasion...who knows I might have persuaded President Bush to do so many other things."

 

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