Who wants Brazilian ethanol imported to the United States through El Salvador?
Cargill Corporation apparently does. That's why the National Corn Growers
was upset by a May 6 report that Cargill will build a dehydration plant
that will convert ethanol from Brazil into fuel-grade ethanol for the U.S.
market.
The reason the plant will be located in El Salvador is because its trade
rules are covered under the Caribbean Basin Initiative, which allows up to
7 percent of the previous year's U.S. fuel-grade ethanol production to be
exempt from import duties.
No one questions Cargill's wisdom on a business level, but is it necessary
to add even more profits to its already ridiculously bloated bottom line?
Is it worth threatening the burgeoning ethanol industry in the United States?
Cargill thinks it is -- even against the wishes of the National Corn
Growers Association, which has regularly pursued free trade policies that
are good for the multi-national monolith and horrible for U.S. farmers and
their counterparts worldwide.
It is possible for Congress to close the loophole that Cargill has driven
through, but lawmakers have much more important things on their plates than
an obscure trade issue that consumers don't care a toad about.
At least they aren't caring about it yet. They will when and if they
realize that Cargill is threatening the home-grown ethanol industry.
Consumers have been awakened by soaring gas and diesel prices that threaten
to spark inflationary pressure across the economy.
Cargill, whose economic wheelings and dealings produce economic activity
that makes many nation's blush, has taken much credit for leading the way
in pushing U.S. food exports. In this new age of commerce, multi-nationals
like Cargill are the new king makers, a force that determines economic
winner and losers. They and other multi-nationals have pushed the notion
that a company's loyalty to a single nation is a concept from our past.
It's time lawmakers do something to curtail the worst excesses of the
multi-nationals and those whose business mode of operation focuses only on
the bottom line.
American corn growers certainly need Cargill if the company would be
satisfied being a business partner. Multi-nationals don't believe much in
partnerships. They prefer to go it alone. Cargill has successfully courted
U.S. grain producers for years, but when push comes to shove, the company
appears too willing to sell domestic producers down the river.
Cargill should take a step back and announce that it is scrapping plans to
build the El Salvador plant. The company doesn't seem to understand that it
can only prosper if farmers prosper. Importing Brazilian ethanol isn't
doing a thing for U.S. farmers.Agri-News:
