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Source: Renewable Fuels Association news release
Washington, DC — The Renewable Fuels Association today thanked the Trump administration for its efforts to enforce an important 2019 trade agreement with China, noting in comments to the U.S. Trade Representative that China has failed to satisfy commitments to increase trade in ethanol and distillers grains. Accordingly, RFA calls on the United States to implement reciprocal duties on U.S. imports of Chinese ag products.
“On behalf of RFA’s membership, and the U.S. ethanol industry as a whole, we are extremely grateful to President Trump and his Administration for its steadfast commitment to fair and reciprocal trade with China,” wrote RFA President and CEO Geoff Cooper. “We applaud USTR for taking a closer look at China’s failure to deliver on its Phase One commitments, which has resulted in a lost market opportunity for U.S. ethanol producers and farmers and caused significant financial losses.”
Cooper noted that China purchased only 58 percent of the total U.S. goods and services exports in 2020 and 2021 that it had committed to buy under the Phase One Agreement signed in 2019. In fact, China ultimately failed to buy any of the additional $200 billion in goods in 2020-21, instead falling $11.6 billion short of even reaching the baseline level of purchases.
Specifically, with respect to ethanol, after the signing of the Phase One Agreement, in 2020, China purchased just 31.7 million gallons of ethanol from the U.S. valued at just under $51 million. Thereafter, in 2021, China purchased just over 100 million gallons of ethanol from the U.S. valued at $162 million. Since 2021, U.S. ethanol imports by China have essentially fallen to near zero and flatlined. A similar trade pattern occurred with respect to distillers grains.
“Today, as our nation’s farmers and rural communities face serious economic challenges, it is critical that our trading partners live up to their commitments and be held accountable for failing to comply with key terms and provisions negotiated in the process,” Cooper concluded. “Moreover, trading partners must act in good faith as we work to negotiate longer-lasting, more resilient trade agreements. It is critical that China work to restore its commitment to agriculture purchases under the Phase One Agreement or otherwise face reciprocal action for its failure and/or refusal to do so.”
