The EU has made no commitments to lowering market access barriers for US ethanol, the European Commission said today.
This counters US statements that ethanol could be included in an EU pledge to purchase $750bn of US energy goods over three years. Brussels expects further details of the EU-US trade deal to be confirmed in a joint statement in the "coming days".
"The US may or may not consider that there's an opportunity to export more ethanol. That may or may not be the case. It's very clear that we're not lowering our barriers," a senior EU official said, listing ethanol, like beef, as a sensitive sector.
Final details governing the improved access and tariff rate quotas (TRQs) for €7.5bn ($8.7bn) of "certain non-sensitive US agriculture exports" are still being negotiated.
"That will come as part of the documents that we aim to have ready with the US in the coming days," said EU trade spokesperson Olof Gill. The commission has previously listed such products as including soya bean oil, planting seeds, grains or nuts, as well as processed food stuffs.
US Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) has applauded the trade deal, which includes an EU pledge to purchase $750bn of US energy goods. US agriculture secretary Brooke Rollins has indicated, in a social media post, that the deal includes ethanol.
"Even with the existing tariff level the EU market is being flooded with US ethanol — which is produced with state support and tax credits, and with significantly lower energy costs," said European renewable ethanol industry ePure's director general David Carpintero. Safeguarding the EU's renewable ethanol sector is especially important given a four-fold increase in US ethanol exports to the EU and UK over the past four years, Carpintero said.
