On 1 June, a bipartisan group of 21 members of the House of Representatives asked USTR to address Brazil’s treatment of U.S. ethanol, specifically a reinstatement of tariffs and access to Brazil’s carbon credit program for ethanol. Between the tariff and lack of access to the credit program, U.S. exports to Brazil have effectively been cut off.
First, the tariffs. From 2012 to 2017, U.S. ethanol entered Brazil tariff-free. In 2017, Brazil imposed an annual TRQ of 600 million liters (158 million gallons) on ethanol imports from 1 September 2017 through 31 August 2019. Any volume above the quota was subject to the 20 percent Common External Tariff (CET) under the Mercosur agreement. That tariff was reassessed 24 months after im...
The corn and soy complex closed higher, with the wheat market mixed, as winter wheat closed up but spring wheat and livestock ended lower. Part of the strength for corn and soybeans may have been a weather premium, as crop planting has started out fast but warm weather has been slow to develop...
Real GDP grew at a 2 percent annual rate in the first quarter of 2026, slightly below the consensus expectation of 2.3 percent but above the 0.5 percent growth in Q4 2025. The GDP number matches the average annualized pace of growth since the peak back in late 2007, right before the Financial P...
Reflect for a moment on what you eat. There is a lot of advice out there in the ether about what you should eat, but really, what do you currently eat and how much? The good people at the USDA have some data for you, to help you answer that question. USDA says that we eat quite a bit of meat. L...
