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Trump pushes Big Corn and Oil to break biofuels deadlock

US Materials 2 March 2018 10:58 (UTC +04:00)
U.S. President Donald Trump urged representatives from the rival oil and corn industries on Thursday to break a deadlock in talks over the future of the nation’s biofuels policy by accepting a deal involving reforms sought by both sides
Trump pushes Big Corn and Oil to break biofuels deadlock

U.S. President Donald Trump urged representatives from the rival oil and corn industries on Thursday to break a deadlock in talks over the future of the nation’s biofuels policy by accepting a deal involving reforms sought by both sides, Reuters reports.

Trump has arranged a series of talks between Big Corn and Big Oil since late last year amid rising concern in the White House over the U.S. Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS), a law requiring refiners to mix biofuels such as corn-based ethanol into their fuel.

The decade-old policy was intended to help farmers and reduce petroleum imports but has increasingly divided farmers and energy companies - two of Trump’s most important constituencies. Refining company PES in the key electoral state of Pennsylvania in January blamed the RFS for its bankruptcy.

A source who attended Thursday’s meeting at the White House said Trump told the gathering of lawmakers and corporate executives that he supports a proposal from the refining industry to cap the price of biofuels blending credits that refiners must acquire to comply with the RFS.

Prices for the blending credits - which refiners must either earn or purchase - have surged in recent years, upsetting companies that in some cases are spending hundreds of millions of dollars on them.

The source, who asked not to be named because he is not authorized to speak publicly on the discussion, said Trump also expressed support for expanding sales of high-ethanol gasoline – a tweak long-sought by ethanol producers.

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