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Monday, October 08, 2018

Trump plans to allow year-round sale of E15 fuel; Iowa announcement could shore up GOP prospects in Corn Belt

President Trump plans to announce tomorrow that he will allow high-ethanol gasoline to be sold year-round, a move that could shore up Republican prospects in the upper Midwest, where his trade policies have been politically problematic.

"Trump is tentatively scheduled to commit to the policy change on E15 fuel that would expand the market for corn-based ethanol during a campaign event near Council Bluffs, Iowa," Jennifer A. Dlouhy and Mario Parker report for Bloomberg News. "At the same time, the administration may announce reforms of the market for biofuel compliance credits that are traded by Wall Street banks as a financial commodity."

The announcement is set to come at a campaign event for Rep. David Young, who has pressed Trump for the change, and would precede a Trump rally in Council Bluffs.

"The shift would effectively waive E15 from federal vapor-pressure requirements that block its sale from June 1 to Sept. 15 in areas where smog is a problem," Bloomberg reports. "At the same time, the Trump administration would pursue reforms in an opaque $2.5 billion market in biofuel compliance credits that are used by refiners to satisfy U.S. blending quotas. Among the reforms being considered: position limits capping the number of so-called renewable identification numbers that can be held by traders, a shift that could push some of them out of the market."

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