Washington, DC – The Coalition for Sugar Reform released a statement following the joint U.S.-Mexico announcement regarding negotiations on Mexican sugar imports:
“Today’s announcement is a bad deal for hardworking Americans, and exemplifies the worst form of crony capitalism. The agreement in principle does not address the fact that the price of sugar in this country is already 80 percent higher than the world price. In fact, it will result in higher prices, costing U.S. consumers an estimated $1 billion a year. What the agreement does do is solidify that it’s time for Congress to shoulder the responsibility of fixing this broken program in the 2018 farm bill if not before. U.S. sugar policy should empower America’s food and beverage companies to create more jobs, not put hundreds of thousands of good-paying U.S. jobs at risk just to benefit one small interest group.”
The United States is a net importer of sugar, and until the U.S. sugar industry filed anti-dumping and countervailing duty cases in February 2014, there was free trade in sugar between the United States and Mexico since early 2008. Mexico has become an integral part of the North American sugar trade and is a critical supplier of sugar to the United States.
Learn more about how Congress can make U.S. sugar policy work for America at www.SugarReform.org.
About the Coalition for Sugar Reform:
The Coalition for Sugar Reform (www.SugarReform.org) represents consumer, trade, and commerce groups, manufacturing associations, and food and beverage companies that use sugar — including confectioners, bakers, cereal manufacturers, beverage makers and dairy companies — as well as the trade associations for these industries.
Source: Coalition for Sugar Reform