Jack Roney, director of economics and policy analysis for the American Sugar Alliance, told the International Trade Commission today that it should focus its efforts on achieving reform of the world sugar market through WTO negotiations.
“He said the government should “focus its efforts on achieving a drastic reform of the world sugar market through comprehensive, sector-specific WTO negotiations” and not through the Central America Free-trade Agreement.
Roney said the ASA has steadfastly supported sugar reform conducted through the WTO and not through regional or bilateral trade agreements.
He said the ASA has long endorsed the goal of global free trade. He added that U.S. sugar and corn sweetener producers are efficient by world standards and welcome the opportunity to compete on a genuine level playing field.
The world market for sugar is “characterized by a vast and complex array of policies that not only facilitate but encourage dumping onto the world market….”
These issues of sugar dumping and trade-distorting government policies can only be effectively addressed in multilateral WTO negotiations, he stated.
Roney said attempts to deal with problems plaguing the world sugar industry and to eliminate tariffs on sugar within the various FTA negotiations would jeopardize this broader goal and are unworkable.