Washington, D.C. ? U.S. corn farmers and ethanol makers will continue to have less competition from foreign imports of the renewable fuel until 2009.

Before adjourning Saturday, the U.S. House and Senate approved legislation extending the 54-cent-per-gallon tariff on imported ethanol.

The tax was set to expire in October 2007 but will continue to be imposed until January 2009.

A leading producer of ethanol is Brazil, which presumably would be the source of more supply. But Brazil has its own gasoline supply concerns, and it’s uncertain how much additional fuel it would be able to provide.