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API, ethanol groups clinch deal on US biofuel bill
API, ethanol groups clinch deal on US biofuel bill
New York, 17 January (Argus) — The American Petroleum Institute (API) and ethanol groups have agreed on reforms to US biofuel policy that they would like to see, teeing up a last-minute lobbying campaign to get the provisions included in federal budget legislation this month. API and ethanol supporters that include the Renewable Fuels Association and Growth Energy have aligned around limiting refineries' future exemptions from biofuel mandates and making some changes to a bipartisan bill that would permit a higher-ethanol gasoline blend, according to four people familiar with the deal and draft text shared with Argus . The groups' final framework — which they will pitch to lawmakers in the hopes of swiftly adding it to government spending bills this month — would authorize sales of up to 15pc ethanol gasoline (E15) year-round. Summertime sales of ethanol blends above 10pc are restricted in most of the US because of rules meant to minimize smog. If passed into law, the deal would be a major victory for ethanol producers who have long claimed wider access to the typically-cheaper blend would benefit farmers and drivers alike. Oil majors have grown more comfortable with E15 too, preferring consistent nationwide rules to costly workarounds like a looming shift in the midcontinent to a boutique fuel blend that would allow more ethanol. While the E15 fix would take effect immediately, the energy groups want to keep existing rules around biofuel quotas and exemptions in place through 2027. Under the current system, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) requires oil companies to blend minimum volumes of biofuels while allowing hardship exemptions for some small refineries that annually process no more than 75,000 b/d of crude. Starting in the 2028 compliance year, relief would be awarded only to companies that process 75,000 b/d or less across all their refineries and that also maintain that eligibility each year. These smaller facilities would win automatic 75pc exemptions from biofuel quotas starting in 2028 without having to apply each year, effectively ending discretion for regulators to choose which refineries deserve exemptions. Under the proposal, EPA starting in 2028 also would not require larger oil companies blend more biofuels to offset exemptions granted to their smaller rivals. This longer phase-in would address concerns from some energy lobbyists that more immediate changes could delay EPA's work to finalize new blend mandates. The agency wants to finalize new blend quotas for 2026 and 2027 in the coming weeks. Fuel fight The draft bill's text could change as lobbyists pitch the agreement to lawmakers and try to minimize backlash from oil refiners, people familiar with the matter said. But there is little time for more negotiations, with advocates of the deal pushing Congress to include it in legislation to fund government agencies after 30 January. Lawmakers have expressed similar urgency. There may be "news soon" on updates to the existing E15 bill draft, bill sponsor and US senator Deb Fischer (R-Nebraska) said in an online interview with Brownfield Ag News this week. The current deal would be a substantial blow to refiners that have won exemptions for small units in the past but run too many larger facilities to qualify under the proposed rules, including independent refiners Delek and Par Pacific. Other merchant refiners worry that the biofuel lobby will use wider ethanol access as a pretext to push for higher blend mandates in future years, which they say risks refinery closures. The American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers chief executive told Argus this week that his refinery members were divided over E15 talks. API had surprised its traditional oil refining allies last year by teaming up with ethanol interests on a larger biofuel policy package . Other biofuel producers have long wanted tighter restrictions on hardship waivers than the latest deal, another hiccup for negotiations. Particularly controversial among farm advocates is a holdover provision from the current E15 bill to grant some small refiners active credits they can use toward future mandates. API, the Renewable Fuels Association and Growth Energy as well as chief Senate bill sponsors Fischer and Shelley Moore Capito (R-West Virginia) did not immediately reply to requests for comment. By Cole Martin Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2026. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Trump threatens 10pc tariff against UK, EU members
Trump threatens 10pc tariff against UK, EU members
Houston, 17 January (Argus) — President Donald Trump on Saturday threatened to impose a 10pc tariff on US imports from the UK and seven key members of the EU, citing their participation in a military mission in Denmark's Greenland territory, which he is threatening to annex. US imports from the UK, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, The Netherlands, Norway and Sweden would be subject to a 10pc tariff from 1 February, rising to a 25pc tariff from 1 June, Trump announced via his social media platform. The tariff would remain in place until "such time as a Deal is reached for the Complete and Total purchase of Greenland", Trump said. Trump has stepped up discussion of taking over Greenland — a self-governing island under Denmark's control — following a US special forces raid that captured Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro on 3 January. Denmark and Greenland have rejected US overtures to buy the island, as well as Trump's threat to take over the island by force. Trump is citing Greenland's alleged lack of military protection as the latest justification for his threats. He has denigrated Denmark's commitment to the island's defense against alleged threats from Russia and China. "They currently have two dogsleds as protection, one added recently," Trump said on Saturday. Denmark's foreign minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen, who traveled to Washington on 14 January to meet Trump administration officials, pushed back against that accusation. "Denmark has already stepped up our own contribution by committing additional funds for military capabilities — not [dogsleds], but ships, drones, fighter jets," Rasmussen said. The countries threatened with new tariffs by Trump joined Denmark to dispatch troops and military experts to Greenland on a mission to assess the island's security needs. Trump on Saturday said that the reconnaissance mission "journeyed to Greenland, for purposes unknown." EU leaders expressed solidarity with Denmark and called for dialogue, but they omitted mention of possible retaliation if Trump makes good on his threat to impose new tariffs. "Tariffs would undermine transatlantic relations and risk a dangerous downward spiral," European Council president Antonio Costa and European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said in response to Trump's post. "Europe will remain united, coordinated, and committed to upholding its sovereignty." "Applying tariffs on allies for pursuing the collective security of Nato allies is completely wrong," UK prime minister Keir Starmer said on Saturday. "We will of course be pursuing this directly with the US administration." US imports from the UK already are subject to a 10pc import tariff, and imports from the EU face a 15pc tariff. While Trump is threatening tariffs against seven out of 27 EU members, the bloc collectively negotiates trade matters and sets tariffs. Trump is scheduled to attend the Davos Economic Forum in Switzerland on 21-22 January. A bipartisan delegation of 11 US senators and members of the House of Representatives traveled to Copenhagen on 16 January to express support for Denmark's government and push back against Trump's designs on Greenland. "There is no need, or desire, for a costly acquisition or hostile military takeover of Greenland when our Danish and Greenlandic allies are eager to work with us on Arctic security, critical minerals and other priorities under the framework of long-standing treaties," said US senators Jeanne Shaheen (D-New Hampshire) and Thom Tills (R-North Carolina), who were part of the congressional delegation. By Haik Gugarats Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2026. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
'Plan B' for Trump tariffs involves 10pc duty
'Plan B' for Trump tariffs involves 10pc duty
Washington, 16 January (Argus) — President Donald Trump's administration is prepared to impose a temporary 10pc tax on imports before rolling out more permanent measures in case the US Supreme Court strikes down emergency tariffs imposed in 2025, a senior White House adviser said. "We can put a 10pc tariff right away to make up most of the room, and then use things like the 301 authorities, the 232 authorities, to backfill the things that we've already achieved," White House national economic council director Kevin Hassett told Fox Business Friday. The Supreme Court, in a Friday update on its website, said it may issue a decision on one of its pending cases on 20 January at 10am ET. That will mark the court's next chance to decide on the tariff case since holding oral arguments in early November. The opinion could also be for an unrelated case that is also pending before the high court. Hassett, like other Trump officials, has expressed confidence about the administration's ability to prevail in court while, at the same time, outlining a possible fallback plan in case of legal defeat. The reference to a 10pc tariff is the most explicit confirmation to date of a possible route the administration plans to take if the high court strikes down Trump's tariffs. Hassett likely is referencing a possible invocation of Section 122 of the 1974 Trade Act, which allows the White House to impose tariffs of up to 15pc for a period of 150 days to address a balance of payment issue. But subsequent extensions would require explicit authorization from Congress. The administration likely will use the time period to prioritize the countries and industries it will target with tariffs next. Targeting a specific industry would rely on a "Section 232" authority that allows the Commerce Department or US Trade Representative's office to determine whether imports of a product need to be curbed on national security grounds. A Section 301 investigation would target a specific country on the grounds that it is discriminating against US exports. In both cases, the process leading up to the imposition of tariffs can take months, requires public consultation and allows carveouts for the affected US importers. The future Supreme Court decision will affect Trump's tariffs on Mexico, Canada and China, where he cited an economic emergency created by the three countries' alleged inaction to stop the flow of fentanyl drugs into the US. The Supreme Court will also address Trump's most extensive action — imposing tariffs of 10pc and higher since 5 April on nearly every US trading partner to address the "economic emergency" of persistent US trade deficits. In both cases, Trump cited a 1977 law called the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), which previous presidents only used to impose targeted economic sanctions, to impose tariffs on nearly all US trading partners. The Supreme Court's decision on IEEPA tariffs also would affect the tariffs Trump imposed on imports from Brazil and India, US government lawyers informed the Court of International Trade last week. Trump cited Brazil's alleged suppression of freedom of speech as a reason to impose tariffs. In the case of India, Trump imposed an extra 25pc tariff because of India's purchase of Russian crude. The Supreme Court's decision will not affect tariffs on US imports of steel, aluminum, cars and auto parts, which Trump imposed by citing well-tested legal trade authorities. The money issue One of the issues that prompted even conservative justices to express skepticism about Trump's emergency tariffs during the oral argument in November related to their function in raising government revenue. Government lawyers countered at the time that tariffs were a foreign and economic policy tool for the White House, rather than a tax, which the Constitution says only Congress can impose. The US has collected nearly $260bn in customs duties during the first 11 months of Trump's second term, according to data from the US Treasury Department. Hundreds of companies have already filed lawsuits seeking to recover the tariffs, but Trump warned earlier this week that paying them back could take "years" to figure out. "It would be a complete mess, and almost impossible for our country to pay," Trump said on 12 January via his social media network. "Anybody who says that it can be quickly and easily done would be making a false, inaccurate, or totally misunderstood answer to this very large and complex question." By Haik Gugarats Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2026. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
India's rabi sowing picks up
India's rabi sowing picks up
London, 16 January (Argus) — The sown acreage for India's 2025-26 rabi season is higher for most key crops, compared with long-term averages, which is set to keep domestic fertilizer demand supported in the first quarter. Sown wheat acreage was 3.34mn hectares (ha) as of 9 January, up by almost 60,000ha on the year and up strongly from the long-term average of 3.12mn ha, according to data from the Department of Agriculture and Farmer Welfare. India's winter rabi season runs from October to March. Sown rabi rice acreage was 220,000ha, up by 20,000ha on the year but down significantly from the long-term average of 430,000ha. But rice is primarily a summer kharif crop and India's kharif rice acreage rose by 70,000ha on the year to 4.42mn ha for the 2025-26 season. Lastly, the sown acreage of total pulses rose by 40,000 ha on the year to 1.36mn ha in the 2025-26 season. Rabi crops are sown from mid-November onwards after the main monsoon season ends in September. November-January is the peak for urea offtake in India, while DAP purchases typically peak a month or so earlier in the fourth quarter. By Upasruti Biswas Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2026. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
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