Brazil wants help lifting US ethanol tariffs

NEW YORK: Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on Monday implored American businessmen to help convince the United States to lift the 53-cent-per-gallon import tariff it places on his country’s ethanol fuel.

Speaking at a Wall Street Journal-sponsored investor forum Monday, Silva defended the gasoline alternative as a cheap and easy way to end dependence on foreign oil and help reduce global poverty.

“I’ve spoken (about the tariffs) so many times with President Bush and certainly I will speak about it many times with President Obama,” Silva said. “That’s why I’m asking for your help.”

Brazil is a world leader in biofuels and the world’s largest exporter of ethanol.

But Silva, who met with President Barack Obama on Saturday, has made little progress persuading the U.S. to reduce the tariffs, which are in place to protect American farmers who make ethanol from corn. Brazil makes ethanol from sugar, in a process that is much more efficient and costs less.

International Herald Tribune