EU-US trade deal: Recent surge in US ethanol exports to EU and UK justifies keeping tariffs in place

BRUSSELS, 1 August 2025 – The EU’s commitment to safeguarding its strategically important renewable ethanol industry in the trade deal with the US is especially important given the recent rise in US ethanol exports to the EU and UK. Even with the existing tariff level the EU market is being flooded with US ethanol – which is produced with state support and tax credits, and with significantly lower energy costs.

The numbers are staggering: between 2021 and 2024, US exports of ethanol to the EU and UK rose from 363 million litres to 1.58 billion litres, according to official US government data.

It’s clear that any deal that reduces or eliminates EU tariffs on US ethanol would allow this flood to rise even more, overwhelming the European renewable ethanol sector. The knock-on effect on the EU’s agriculture sector, as well as domestic production of protein and biogenic CO₂, would be significant – and thus counterproductive to EU ambitions for food and energy security, climate change mitigation and industrial and agricultural autonomy.