This week, Bob Dinneen, President and CEO of the Renewable Fuels Association addressed participants at the ethanol summit in Brazil. He says the Brazilians who are contemplating putting a 17 percent tariff on U.S. ethanol imports will only hurt their consumers if they follow through with that.

He says there needs to be a global policy that allows for the free flowing of renewable fuels between countries.

Dinneen says the Brazilians also tried to justify their considering of a tariff on U.S. ethanol imports because their own sugar cane produced ethanol is better for the environment than is corn based ethanol. He says facts don’t support that.

The summit Dinneen attended is held every two years and brings together major stakeholders in the ethanol, sugarcane and renewable fuel sectors across the world to talk about industry topics.