16.01.201822:50:00UTC+00BRAZIL: Government May Remove Import Tariff From U.S. Ethanol

The Brazilian government may remove the import tariff on the United States ethanol, which currently stands at 20% for volumes exceeding 600 million liters per year, said Agriculture Minister Blairo Maggi.

"Gasoline prices have changed a lot in Brazil. As ethanol prices are linked to gasoline, it seems to me that the protection we put behind us does not make much sense," the minister said. "If we think that this can be withdrawn, I will not have difficulty taking it to the Chamber of Foreign Trade (Camex)," he added.

Brazil imposed the tariff on imports of ethanol from the United States after the country suspended the imports of Brazilian meat because of the discoveries of an investigation which revealed sanitary irregularities in some domestic slaughterhouses.