Trump pushes permanent year-round E15 at Sioux City rally as 45Z credit changes loom
President Trump told a Sioux City crowd Thursday he wants permanent year-round E15, putting the summer sales fight back on the table for anyone who sells gasoline in the Corn Belt. Speaking at Sioux Gateway Airport, he pointed to the emergency waiver his administration used to keep E15 flowing through the summer driving season and said he intends to lock it in. "We also gave Iowa an emergency waiver to sell E15 all year round. And with Ashley in the Senate, we will make it year-round E15. We'll make it permanent. We'll get it done, right," Trump said.
Why it matters to a jobber: the summer Reid vapor pressure limit is the thing that forces E15 off the pumps in June without a waiver. A permanent fix means stations that invested in E15 dispensers get to run the higher-margin blend twelve months instead of planning fuel swaps around a seasonal cutoff. The Iowa Renewable Fuels Association has pressed this point for years. A rally promise is not a rule, and the mechanism still runs through either Congress or EPA.
The 45Z changes
Highwater Ethanol, a plant in Lamberton, Minnesota, is lining up post-harvest meetings with its corn growers to chase better carbon intensity scores under the 45Z Clean Fuel Production Tax Credit. CEO Brian Kletscher said the company wants to work through the credit changes with farmers and find ways to lower the CI of the corn coming into the plant.
The piece worth flagging for the trade: Kletscher said Highwater hopes to apply the changes retroactively to the 2026 production year, covering corn grown in 2025. If that works, it pulls credit value forward on grain already in the bin. Producer economics on 45Z feed straight into ethanol supply and the discount that blended gallon carries at the rack, so c-store operators buying E10 and E15 have a stake in how generous these scores end up being.
Ethanol at the Port of Santos
Brazil's Port of Santos has started regular ethanol bunkering, fueling ships with ethanol on a routine basis. For a US operator this is a demand signal more than a price mover right now. Marine ethanol demand abroad competes for the same global gallons, and if bunkering scales it could firm up export pull on US product over time. Nothing in it touches your rack price this week.
What to watch
Whether the E15 push becomes actual legislation or another EPA waiver, and on what timeline, since the promise carries no date. Watch for EPA or Treasury guidance on retroactive 45Z treatment, because that is what decides if 2025 corn qualifies. And watch whether Santos bunkering volumes grow enough to tighten ethanol supply into 2026.