The Renewable Fuels Association told the U.S. International Trade Commission it supports the Trump administration's reciprocal tariff on ethanol imports from Brazil, arguing the move is needed to address what it calls unfair trade barriers against U.S. ethanol. RFA officials testified that the United States and Brazil once enjoyed a strong two-way ethanol trade, but said Brazil changed course in 2017 by imposing tariffs that sharply reduced U.S. exports. "Prior to the implementation of punitive trade barriers, Brazil and the United States enjoyed an open and efficient two-way trading relationship in ethanol," said RFA General Counsel Ed Hubbard. "Beginning in 2017, Brazil unilaterally abandoned that approach, turning to a pro-tariff policy that disadvantaged U.S. ethanol imports." According to RFA, U.S. fuel ethanol exports to Brazil fell to zero in 2023, before recovering modestly to $43 million in 2024 and $68 million in 2025, a fraction of the market Brazil represented just a few years earlier.
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