A 2.11. Has Brazil ever been accused of unfair trade practices in the case of ethanol?
On February 25, 1985 the US International Trade Court accepted a petition filed by the US ethanol industry for the commencement of investigations into the possible occurrence of dumping and illegitimate use of subsidies to ethanol exports from Brazil to the United States in 1984, therefore on a date near that on which such credit benefits were granted. The investigations were conducted by the US Department of Commerce and audited by two independent private firms. The conclusion of the investigations was that the residual effect of the credit benefits on the value of the 1984 ethanol production was equivalent to just 2.60 percent. Most of that net subsidy, equivalent to 1.65 percent, which was then attributed to a financing program with subsidized interest under PROLCOOL, was not considered to be a subsidy to exports, but financing for the ethanol industry, the product of which was consumed mostly in the domestic market. The US Department of Commerce concluded that there were no critica
