.png?1712331663)
The U.S. biofuels industry is a critical component of our economy, an important economic engine in rural America, and a vital source for good-paying jobs. These low-cost, low-carbon fuels support American energy independence, help our farmers, and lower prices at the pump for our families. While many Midwestern states tout strong biofuels production, our home states stand out. Iowa leads the nation in growing corn, while Illinois leads in growing soybeans. As a result, our states produce the most ethanol and biodiesel in the nation.
Alongside needed reforms that would allow biofuels – particularly blends like E-15 – to be sold at gas stations nationwide year-round, an important opportunity for the American biofuels industry is international trade. In 2023, the United States boasted a roughly $45-billion biofuels market and exported over $5 billion worth of biofuels. Our domestic market is expected to grow to over $86 billion by 2033, and as developing nations innovate and their populations grow, biofuels exports will undoubtedly increase, too. We need to begin the hard work now to eliminate artificial trade barriers and negotiate strong agreements that benefit our farmers, biofuels producers, and the overall economy.
Regrettably, the Biden administration has failed to negotiate new free trade agreements that could expand opportunities for homegrown American biofuels in global markets, instead prioritizing electric-vehicle mandates on our families and burdensome WOTUS regulations on our farmers. If the Biden Administration has chosen to forgo Free Trade Agreements, they must nevertheless continue to address cases of trade discrimination against American farmers and small businesses.
That’s why we recently sent two letters to the Biden administration urging greater action on biofuels. In our first letter to President Biden and U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai, we highlighted the importance of opening new export markets for biofuels producers and the financial benefits that this would support. The United States accounts for well over half of the global production of biofuels, including ethanol, biodiesel, and sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), and the market for SAF alone is projected to increase from under $2 billion to over $133 billion by 2033. American biofuels producers have the capability and ingenuity to be the world’s leading supplier of biofuels. With a $30-billion agricultural trade deficit projected for this fiscal year and farm income forecast to decline, this is the optimal and necessary time to give our producers more markets to ship and sell their products, in turn, driving profits and contributing to economic growth at home.
In our second letter to Ambassador Tai and U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, we called on the Biden administration to continue working towards fair treatment for American biofuel producers, allowing the same duty-free access that Brazilian producers currently receive for exporting to the U.S. Midwest farmers and ethanol producers deserve fair access to Brazilian markets to sell their product without facing restrictive and punitive tariffs. Brazilian ethanol producers also have access to our Renewable Fuel Standard, the newly created 40B Sustainable Aviation Fuel tax credit, and California’s, Oregon’s, and Washington’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard program. This unbalanced and unfair relationship hurts our farmers and negatively impacts our economy while Brazil enjoys unfettered access to American consumers and markets – and it must be corrected as quickly as possible with the full weight and support of the federal government.
It’s easy to be “in the know” about what’s happening in Washington, D.C. Sign up for a FREE month of Agri-Pulse news! Simply click here.
American agriculture is the backbone of our economy. We must hold our trading partners accountable for their actions and ensure American farmers have access to new and developing markets that will serve as new revenue sources for our producers. With these two letters, we are sending a clear message to President Biden and his advisors that American agriculture and free and fair trade must be a top priority for this administration. We will not and cannot leave our agricultural community in the dark when it comes to their livelihoods.
Congressman Randy Feenstra represents Iowa’s 4th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives, serving on both the House Ways and Means Committee and the House Agriculture Committee. He was born and raised in Hull, Iowa, where he and his wife, Lynette, raised their four children – Taylor, Erika, Dawson, and Savannah. Before being elected to Congress, Congressman Feenstra worked for the Foreign Candy Company in Hull as Head of Sales and later served as Hull City Administrator, Sioux County Treasurer, and Chairman of the Iowa Senate Ways and Means Committee.
Congressman Darin LaHood is serving his fourth full term in Congress, representing the 16th Congressional District of Illinois, which spans 21 counties across central and northwestern Illinois, including Peoria, Bloomington-Normal, Rockford, and Galena. He serves on the House Ways and Means Committee, the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, and the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party. LaHood is the Chairman of the Ways and Means Subcommittee on Work and Welfare and the Intelligence Committee’s National Security Agency and Cyber Subcommittee. LaHood, a third-generation Peorian, graduated from Spalding High School. He earned a B.A. from Loras College and holds a J.D. from the University of Illinois-Chicago John Marshall Law School. Congressman LaHood and his wife Kristen currently reside in Peoria and are the proud parents of three sons, McKay, Lucas, and Teddy.