he United States "will need to have more imports of ethanol" if it is to meet the new mandate to cut gasoline use, Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman said Thursday.

In an interview with Dow Jones Newswires at the World Economic Forum's annual meeting in Davos, Bodman also said that he did not see subsidies to U.S. farmers remaining in place beyond 2010 or import tariffs on ethanol beyond 2008.

"The idea is that at some point in the future all these technologies need to stand the test of the free market," he said.

To protect domestic ethanol makers, the United States imposes a 54 cent-per-gallon tariff on imported ethanol.