President Barack Obama and Brazil's president had their first leader-to-leader conversation Monday 26th, spending 25 minutes discussing issues ranging from biofuels to the global financial crisis. The spokesman for President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said Obama called Silva to stress that he wants to create partnerships to "strengthen economic relations between the countries." The conversation touched on biofuels, a key issue for Brazil because Latin America's largest nation is the world's largest exporter of ethanol and wants the U.S. to lift a 53 cents per gallon import tariff on the alternative to gasoline.Obama told Silva that the U.S. and Brazil must continue ethanol cooperation efforts. But he has not issued a clear position on Brazilian ethanol import tariffs. In the past, he has suggested that he opposes eliminating them.
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2009/01/27/business/LT-Brazil-US.php