Jeb Bush: Lift Tax on Brazilian Ethanol
Yesterday, Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush told Brazilian sugar and ethanol business leaders that the U.S. should eliminate its tax on ethanol imports from Brazil.
“The U.S. should remove the tax on Brazil ethanol imports to really get the ethanol market moving,” Bush said of 54 cents per gallon tax.
The president of the powerful Sao Paulo Sugarcane Industry Association, Eduardo Carvalho, told Dow Jones Newswires, “It’s very important that someone like Mr. Bush has this opinion on ethanol. But there is no one person capable of removing tariffs by himself. This is a big political game.”
Bush also said the U.S. should treat ethanol as part of its energy policy, not agricultural policy. Brazil, the world’s ethanol export leader, and the U.S. account for three quarters of the world’s ethanol production.