Alpine Management Systems, Inc.(fka ALPN)

[sukurux]

Ethanol development agreement reached

http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/americas/03/09/bush.latin.america.ap/index.html

The centerpiece of Bush's Brazilian stop -- the first before he headed on to Uruguay, Colombia, Guatemala and Mexico -- was a new ethanol development agreement. (Watch Bush tie ethanol to national security Video)

A large fuel depot for tanker trucks was the backdrop for declarations by Bush and Lula that increasing alternative-fuel use will lead to more jobs, a cleaner environment and greater independence from the whims of the oil market. In Brazil, nearly eight in 10 new cars already run on fuel made from sugar cane.

The agreement, signed Friday morning by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and her Brazilian counterpart, has the U.S. and Brazil joining forces to promote more ethanol use in nations lying between Brazil and the United States. It also creates new quality standards for the alternative fuel.

But there were clear remaining tensions on a related issue: the 54-cent-a-gallon U.S. tariff on imports of Brazilian ethanol made from sugar, a measure designed to help U.S. corn growers. Ethanol can be made from either crop.

Before Bush's visit, Lula said the tariff was unfair and that he would press Bush to try to get the U.S. Congress to repeal it.

"It's not going to happen," Bush said bluntly at their news conference. "The law doesn't end until 2009. And the Congress will ... look at it when the law ends."

Bush and Lula also agreed to try to relaunch stalled global trade talks -- the so-called Doha round -- and Bush said, "We will work together. We will lock our trade ministers in a room, all aimed at advancing this important round."

U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab was staying behind to meet with Brazilian officials on Saturday morning.

Brazil is the largest economy in Latin America.