By NICK GOSNELL
Hutch Post
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Kansas First District Congressman Dr. Roger Marshall signed on to a letter to the U.S. Trade Representative asking him to work hard to get the tariffs reduced on ethanol in bilateral trade negotiations with Brazil.
"About a fourth of our corn crop in Kansas goes to an ethanol plant in Kansas," Marshall said. "Typically, those farmers are getting about a dime a bushel more. It's a good thing for agriculture. Additionally, there is about $4 billion in ethanol production in the state of Kansas annually as well. We have the opportunity to export ethanol to Brazil. They have a 20% tariff on it. It's not fair and reciprocal trade agreements."
Marshall sees bilateral negotiations as clearer at the end of the day.
"I think, if we can get them done, in the long run, these are better," Marshall said. "At the end of the day, we've now renegotiated over 55% of our ag export markets and we're sitting there on the cusp of the rest of them with Great Britain, with the European Union and with African nations as well. If it hadn't been for COVID, I think we'd probably be sitting at 65 or 70%."
There was a zero-duty exemption for U.S. ethanol previously from 2012 to 2017. The letter is asking for reinstatement of that provision.