A Brazilian trade association official said December 29 that the country’s ethanol industry anticipates sales to the United States to increase significantly by 2016 due to the expiration of a harsh duty on ethanol imports. The U.S. Congress recessed for the year without extending the 54-cent per gallon tax on imported ethanol or the 45-cent per gallon Volumetric Ethanol Excise Tax Credit offered to domestic companies that blended ethanol with gasoline, causing them to expire December 31. As a result, Brazil, the world’s largest ethanol exporter (combined with the US, the two countries produce 90.8 percent of the world’s ethanol), expects shipments of sugar cane-based ethanol to the U.S. market to expand in the long term.