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ACGA supports imported ethanol parity act if biofuel imports are closely scrutinizedKeith Bolin, president of the American Corn Growers Association, extended his organization's support, with reservations, for a legislative initiative introduced recently to reduce the ethanol import tariff by the same amount as the recently enacted reduction of the domestic ethanol blenders' tax credit. "ACGA has always understood that the ethanol import tariff was not imposed to protect American corn farmers or our domestic ethanol industry, but rather to protect American taxpayers from paying incentives to expand ethanol production in other countries," explained Bolin. "So we support the recent legislation introduced by Senator Feinstein (D-CA), to reduce the current ethanol import tariff by the same amount as the recently passed reduction in the blenders' tax credit paid to gasoline refiners to use ethanol." Sen. Feinstein, as well as Sens. Gregg (R-NH), Cantwell (D-WA), Allard (R-CO) and Collins (R-MA) introduced the Imported Ethanol Parity Act (S.3080) on June 4, which will require that the ethanol import tariff be lowered an equal amount as the blenders credit. The current blenders' tax credit is 51 cents per gallon and the current ethanol import tariff imposed on imported ethanol from nations not a part of the Caribbean Basin Initiative (CBI) is 54 cents per gallon. Provisions of the recently passed farm bill will require a reduction of the blenders' tax credit from the current 51 cents per gallon to 45 cents per gallon. S.3080 would require a similar reduction in the import tariff. "ACGA agrees that imported renewable fuel from our hemisphere is a much better option than imported fossil fuels from the Middle East," added Bolin. "But importation of biofuels into the United States should be closely scrutinized. We have learned some hard lessons from past mistakes. When importing any alternate fuels, we must work hard to avoid similar mistakes in the future. Back in the early 1980s, when gasohol was the rage with the Prairie Populist movement of that time, the U.S. allowed the importation of inferior methanol, which resulted in the widespread damage to the fuel systems of thousands of cars and trucks. Many service stations at that time, and until very recently, displayed signs that there was no alcohol in their gasoline, resulting in a huge setback for our domestic ethanol industry. We simply cannot afford to make these mistakes again and risk jeopardizing our domestic ethanol industry." ACGA recommends the following changes be made to current federal laws to guarantee that Congress's original objectives for the nation's biofuel industry are met: --Imported biofuels should not be allowed to count toward the federal Renewable Fuel Standard, --Import tariff loopholes that allow non-Caribbean Basin ethanol into the U.S. through the Caribbean Basin Initiative should be closed, --All biofuels should be labeled at the pump as to its country of origin, and --Imported biofuels should be held to the same high quality standards as domestically produced biofuels. ACGA represents 14,000 members in 35 states. ACGA has standing bylaws that prohibit the organization from accepting funding from corporate agriculture. That means that ACGA represents farmers--not seed, chemical, food processing, grain trading or crop insurance companies. For more information or if you would like to join ACGA or help support our efforts, please see www.acga.org. 6/30/08 Date: 6/25/08 Advertisement
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