More Bush Gifts to Oil Companies ......Bush backs cutting tax on ethanol imports

WASHINGTON // President Bush said yesterday that "it makes sense" to reduce at least temporarily the 54-cent-a-gallon import tax on ethanol and that he would work with Congress to suspend some or all of the tariff.

Any such move would prompt a fight with Republican and Democratic farm-state lawmakers, who say a change would undermine the domestic ethanol industry.

Bush, in an interview with CNBC, said he considers the tax a barrier to imports.

"I think it makes sense ... when there's a time of shortage of a product that's needed, so consumers have a reasonable price, it seems to me to make sense to address those shortages," Bush said. "And dropping a tariff will enable the foreign export of ethanol into our markets, which will particularly help on our coasts."

(The ariticle quotes OUR US ethanol industry saying there is plenty available)

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MORE on Importing Ethanol

From 2004:

Sen. Daschle: Cargill import scheme threatens ethanol industry

(Monday, July 26, 2004 -- CropChoice news) -- Julianne Johnston, AgWeb, 07/25/04:
The following letter was provided by South Dakota Senator Tom Daschle:
Cargill's plan to import 63 million gallons of Brazilian ethanol into the United States through El Salvador each year is a hot topic in the cafes and at the grain elevators throughout the state. South Dakota farmers are understandably suspicious of the agri-business giant's motives. They rightly fear that ethanol imports could undercut the growth of the domestic ethanol industry and undermine our effort to establish ethanol as a major domestic energy source.

On July 16, at a meeting in my Capitol office, I warned Cargill President Greg Page that Cargill's plan could establish a dangerous precedent for other importers and dramatically undercut the value of the pending Renewable FuelsStandard for American farmers and ethanol producers. Now, just one week later, we hear reports that at least one multi-national oil company, Chevron, is considering importing ethanol through Panama.

South Dakota farmers legitimately ask whether corporate giants like Cargill and Chevron care about growing the domestic ethanol industry or are simply interested in maximizing the profits of their foreign subsidiaries. I think we know the answer to that question.

I understand that Cargill executives feel an obligation to their shareholders. But my obligation is to South Dakota farmers, ethanol producers, and motorists who view increased ethanol demand as a means to establish greater control over their economic and energy future.