We’ve weighed in on the massive distortions in the international sugar market before, with an eye on finding the best, most reasonable way to eliminate the tariffs and subsidies that government impose to artificially prop up industries.
Sugar as a market commodity is an essential component to our agriculture industry that involves jobs, revenues, and affects the well being of communities across the country.
The United States is a major sugar producer and subsidizer, but heavy subsidization in countries like Brazil, Guatemala, Colombia, Thailand, and India have severely distorted global markets and jeopardize stability for U.S. farmers and consumers. Current foreign sugar policies create an unfair competitive benefit creating the world’s most one-sided product market, which is inclined to unstable price swings and supply disruptions.
Most recently, India has implemented new subsidies and debt forgiveness for their industry and Brazil has decided to bail out its sugarcane ethanol industry—policies that are both in violation of their obligations under the World Trade Organization (WTO) and have sent global prices spiraling 40% in the last two years.
In the last few weeks Reps. Kat Cammack (R-FL) and Dan Kildee (D-MI) introduced legislation that instructs the Biden Administration to target foreign sugar subsidies that prevent the establishment of a free market for sugar. The bill would in turn also roll back a U.S. sugar policy built on tariffs and quotas.
This “Zero-for-Zero” approach would finally set a level playing field and ensure that American sugar growers, which help support some 142,000 American jobs, could compete in a fair and free market.
