Brazil Ethanol Tariff; USDA Opens U.S. to Sugar Imports
**Renewable Fuels Association president Bob Dinneen says if Brazil imposes tariffs on U.S. ethanol, it would have a chilling impact and prices here would likely go down as the U.S. scrambles to find new markets.
He tells Brownfield the proposed 17 percent tariff on all imported ethanol would ultimately do most harm to the citizens of Brazil because it would drive up their fuel prices.
**Several cabinet members and a White House official gathered at USDA headquarters last week for a meeting of President Trump’s Interagency Task Force on Agriculture and Rural Prosperity.
Task Force Chair, Ag Secretary Sonny Perdue hosted
Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price, and FCC Chairman Ajit Pai, among others.
The officials met to discuss their coordinated effort to reduce regulations, spur job creation and improve infrastructure in rural America.
**USDA announced it’s opening up the U.S. market to an additional 414,000 tons of foreign sugar. The move was greeted warmly by U.S. food and candy makers, who’ve been clamoring for the USDA to allow in more sugar.
The Sweetner Users Association commended the USDA for monitoring the U.S. sugar market and taking necessary action to increase raw sugar supplies, to meet demand.
About a quarter of the additional sugar that USDA said it will allow in will come from Mexico. The rest will be split among 40 countries that are part of the U.S. tariff rate quota system.