Brazil’s Energy and Mining Minister Alexandre Silveira said on Thursday that a potential U.S. tariff on Brazilian ethanol would be unreasonable, emphasizing that the two countries have historically negotiated ethanol and sugar trade together.
His remarks came after President Donald Trump moved to scrap decades-old low tariff rates, raising them to match those of other countries. A White House fact sheet on the plan pointed to Brazil’s ethanol tariffs as an example of unfair trade practices.
The U.S. tariff on ethanol is a mere 2.5%, yet Brazil charges U.S. ethanol exports an 18% tariff. As a result, in 2024, the U.S. imported over $200 million in ethanol from Brazil while exporting only $52 million in ethanol to Brazil, the document said on Thursday.
-NAFB