03/12/07 Brazilian ethanol agreement

President George Bush started his Latin American tour by promoting ethanol production in Brazil. The US signed an agreement could mean more Brazilian ethanol coming into the US. Brazil is a leader in ethanol production, mostly from sugar cane. Some on Capitol Hill are skeptic of the agreement. Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley is all for ethanol but. GRASSLEY "We want to welcome it from a standpoint that the United States taxpayers are not subsidizing competition." Bush says the US will still keep a 54 cent per gallon tariff on ethanol imported from Brazil. The agreement doesn't make sense to South Dakota Senator John Thume. THUME "We shouldn't put other country's ethanol production before our own especially when investors are willing to expand production here in this country. Using American tax dollars to replace one source of foreign energy with another is not good policy and it's not in America's best interest." Thume says the American ethanol industry is undertaking a massive expansion while Bush is promoting the Brazilian product. THUME "So it doesn't make sense in my mind as this point for us to be trying to develop that industry elsewhere around the world nor to make us dependent upon a foreign source of energy when the whole purpose of this undertaking is to become less dependent upon foreign sources of energy." Today's Idaho Ag News Bill Scott