An organization representing U.S. sugar producers believs the recently proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement strikes a good balance between allowing more sugar imports into the U.S. without imperiling a national sugar program that usually runs at no cost to the public.
"We appreciate that the U.S. government was able to make good on its promise not to insert sugar provisions that would threaten no-cost operations of sugar policy," said Jack Roney, an economist with Washinton, D.C.-based American Sugar Alliance. "We don't see ourselves as being harmed economically by these provisions. The volumes involved are really not large enough to have a significant effect."
According to the Sweetener Users Association, which represents large sugar buyers, the agreement would allow Australia to export 65,000 metric tons in new duty-free sugar to the U.S. per year. In years in which the U.S. is still short of sugar beyond Mexico’s ability to provide additional supply, the agreement allows more foreign sugar to be imported duty-free, with Australia entitled to fill up to 23 percent of the demand.
The agreement also granted some minor sugar access to Vietnam and slightly increased Canada’s access.
“Based on the details that have been released, the TPP will provide much-needed additional market access for U.S. sugar imports from Australia,” the association said in a press release. “However, we need more sugar than provided by the agreement. What is known is that U.S. users of sugar are facing a shortfall in sugar availability that far exceeds the 65,000 metric tons of new sugar allocation clearly provided to Australia.”
Shortly before the agreement was announced, the association sent a letter to 45 members of the U.S. House of Representatives requesting more “meaningful liberalization in sugar trade in any final TPP agreement,” according to the press release. The agreement must still be considered by Congress.
The sugar alliance, however, emphasized that returns to U.S. sugar producers have been hurt in recent years by the dumping of subsidized Mexican sugar onto the domestic market. Based on the sugar producers’ complaints, the U.S. government placed temporary duties on Mexican sugar that were suspended in late 2014, after the countries reached a settlement.
“U.S. sugar producers applaud the U.S. Trade Representative’s office for its tireless work, its diligent communications with our industry throughout the process and its understanding of the sensitivities surrounding a global sugar market that has been grossly distorted by foreign subsidies,” the sugar alliance said in a press release.
Source: www.capitalpress.com