US ethanol groups ask president to keep tariff

11 July 2008 22:20  [Source: ICIS news]

HOUSTON (ICIS news)--Several US ethanol interest groups wrote to President George Bush, asking that the nation keeps its 54 cent (€0.34) tariff on imported ethanol, the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) said on Friday.

The letter said the tariff is intended to discourage subsidised imports from entering the US. The letter said the tariff was not intended to protect domestic ethanol producers.

“To ignore the central role ethanol has in reducing oil imports and lowering gasoline prices would hurt consumers all across the country,” according to a statement by Bob Dinneen, president of the Renewable Fuels Association.

"I strongly encourage President Bush to recognise that skyrocketing oil prices play a far greater role in the complex issue of food prices than does ethanol and reject the efforts to remove the secondary tariff,” Dinneen said.

Tom Buis, president of the National Farmers' Union, said the ethanol industry has benefited rural parts of the nation.

"America’s farmers have the ability to provide a safe and abundant food supply while, at the same time, playing a vital role in becoming an energy independent nation," Buis said in a statement.

($1 = €0.63)

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By: Al Greenwood
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