Brazil will maintain tariffs on US ethanol imports despite “tough” complaints from the Biden administration, said Agriculture Minister Carlos Fávaro.

“We cannot risk making things more precarious for Brazilian producers,” Fávaro said during a sugar cane industry conference in Brasilia on Wednesday.

Ethanol is a hot-button issue in major corn-producing states such as Iowa and Illinois as US farmers face increasing competition from the Brazilian agricultural sector. Producers of South American ethanol made from sugar cane and corn want to increase sales to the US, where some renewable aviation fuel plants plan to use the biofuel as a feedstock.

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