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Bush calls for cut in ethanol tariffs

President Bush told CNBC Friday that cutting tariffs on imported ethanol could help ease soaring pump prices.
/ Source: CNBC

In a wide-ranging interview Friday about U.S. business and economic conditions, President Bush told CNBC that he favors lifting tariffs on imported ethanol as a way of easing tight gasoline supplies and try to bring down pump prices.

“I do want to work with Congress on that,” Bush told CNBC’s Larry Kudlow. “I think it makes sense to -- when there's a time of shortage of a product that's needed, so that the consumers can have a reasonable price, it seems to me to make sense to address those shortages, and dropping a tariff will enable the foreign export of ethanol into our markets, which will particularly help on our coasts.  And yeah, I've talked to Congress about that.”

Bush also said he thinks American companies need to do a better job of information shareholders about just how much CEOs are making.

“I am staggered by some of the compensation levels,” said Bush. “And I think it's very important for boards of directors to understand that they represent shareholders and that compensation packages need to be fully transparent, in easy-to-understand language, so that the shareholders can understand whether or not the compensation package is fair or not.”