WASHINGTON, D.C.—Growth Energy, the nation’s largest biofuel trade association, called for officials to take action against Brazil’s unfair trade practices in testimony delivered before the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) today. The oral testimony accompanies more extensive comments Growth Energy submitted earlier this month in response to USTR’s announcement of a Section 301 investigation into Brazil for its unfair trade practices.
“We want three things,” said Growth Energy Senior Vice President Chris Bliley during his testimony. “Fairness in our bilateral trade with Brazil, fair deals that support the United States as the supplier of choice around the world, and equal treatment and accuracy in how international modeling treats U.S. ethanol.”
“Brazil has not treated U.S. ethanol and U.S. agriculture fairly. The country’s actions have led to the imposition of unfair and misguided requirements on U.S. agriculture by other nations,” he added.
In particular, Bliley called out Brazil for structuring its RenovaBio fuel program specifically to prevent inclusion of American ethanol. “The U.S. ethanol industry has worked very closely with Brazilian regulators on RenovaBio—a program designed specifically to meet the needs of Brazilian industry, structured very differently than similar programs in the U.S. We appreciate the work done by USTR and the U.S. Department of Agriculture to address the many structural issues associated with foreign feedstocks and default values under this program,” he said. “We have patiently waited and worked for years to resolve this, but Brazil has acquiesced to their domestic industry’s demands to functionally keep U.S. ethanol from effectively, fairly, and widely participating in their program. Conversely, Brazil can participate unabated within U.S. programs. This conflicts with Brazil’s commitments under the WTO and USTR should take further action to address it.”
Read the full testimony as prepared for delivery here.
