The Court of International Trade has issued a stay through Dec. 6 on its decision that a 2017 amended sugar agreement between the United States and Mexico is invalid because the Commerce Department did not release all communication about negotiations in the case. During this time the Commerce Department is taking comments on the suspension…
WASHINGTON — The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative on June 24 announced the reallocation of 100,071 tonnes, raw value, of the World Trade Organization tariff rate quota for imported raw sugar for the current fiscal year. “Based on consultation with quota holders, U.S.T.R. has determined to reallocate 100,071 tonnes, raw value, of the original…
SWEETENER USERS PROTEST MEXICO TARIFFS: U.S. food and beverage manufacturers who rely on Mexico for nearly one-third of U.S. sugar imports also are among the many business groups protesting Trump’s new tariff plan. “American food and beverage companies will be made even less competitive — yet again — by misguided government policy,” the Sweetener Users Association…
The Sweetener Users Association, which represents industrial-scale users of sugar as an ingredient in food, said this week it is opposed to the tariffs that President Donald Trump has said he will impose on all Mexican goods coming into the United States on Monday if Mexico does not stop illegal immigration and drug movements into…
Congress last week quietly passed the farm bill, a vast collage of legislation affecting the agricultural economy of the United States. This law, which Congress updates every five years, undergoes constant revision. But a few things never change. Foremost among these are the elaborate protections and subsidies given to nation’s wealthy farmers of sugarcane and sugar…
U.S. sugar farmers want to keep restricting the inflow of foreign supplies just as much as much as sweetener users – think candy and food companies – want to increase imports and push down prices. As a result, friction between the two sides is heating up as Congress prepares to write the next five-year farm…
Sugar producers and sweetener users at the International Sweetener Colloquium in Orlando this week sparred over the impact, success and future of the U.S. sugar program, with such debate likely to intensify as the U.S. farm bill moves closer to markup sometime this year. “Last farm bill alone, every single commodity program went through a modernization…
If President Donald Trump withdraws from the North American Free Trade Agreement, the U.S. tariff on sugar imports from Mexico would revert to the 15 cents per pound level in place before NAFTA went into effect, Jason Hafemeister, trade adviser to Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue, told the International Sweetener Colloquium, a meeting of sweetener users…
The Colloquium has long been considered the industry’s premier meeting. This annual event provides a unique opportunity for key players from all sectors to discuss the most pressing issues facing the global sweetener industry. The Colloquium will be held from February 11-14, 2018, at The Ritz-Carlton Grande Lakes in Orlando, FL. …
Give Sen. Jeanne Shaheen points for persistence. Her Senate colleagues have shown little appetite for eliminating subsidies to the sugar industry, but she keeps trying. Shaheen has once again joined with Pennsylvania Republican Pat Toomey to introduce legislation cutting back the complicated and costly federal programs that not only drain the federal treasury, but provide…