On behalf of the Coalition for Sugar Reform, congratulations on your confirmation to serve as U.S. Secretary of Agriculture. You will soon be inundated with a host of new issues to digest, but we write to call your attention to one program in particular that negatively impacts the U.S. economy. The U.S. sugar program hurts…
The Sweetener Users Association (“SUA”) appreciates the opportunity to comment on a March 1, 2017 letter filed by the Government of Mexico with respect to that nation’s suspension of export licenses for sugar to the United States, as well as related actions. SUA members are the end users of sugar imported from Mexico and other countries,…
The Sweetener Users Association (SUA) appreciates the opportunity to present information on the economic impact of U.S. sugar program import restraints on the U.S. sugar and sweetener sector and the food and beverage industries that use the majority of these key food ingredients. SUA’s membership includes a broad range of food and beverage manufacturers, along…
On behalf of the Sweetener Users Association, I write to respectfully urge your favorable consideration of Ambassador Robert E. Lighthizer for the post of United States Trade Representative (USTR). Ambassador Lighthizer’s decades-long involvement in major trade policy issues make him eminently qualified to serve in this critical role. SUA members are directly affected by trade…
The Sweetener Users Association comprises companies that are directly affected by many policies of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, including USDA’s administration of the federal sugar program. While we have often been critical of the structure of current sugar policy, we have also worked closely with USDA officials to encourage program administration that is balanced…
It appears efforts are being made to change the most recent Anti-Dumping and Countervailing Duty Suspension Agreement with Mexico to require sugar imported from Mexico to be sold only to refineries that granulate and crystalize sugar. This is problematic because there are sugar refineries in the U.S. that only produce liquid sugar, which is used…
Even before the next farm bill is written, sugar markets have unfortunately been further distorted by the suspension agreements between the United States and Mexico. Although these agreements are preferable in theory to the antidumping and countervailing duties that would otherwise apply to Mexican sugar, the pacts badly need to be renegotiated and changed to…
I write to express concern that the Administration may be renegotiating its sugar suspension agreements with Mexico without allowing for public comment. Policy with economic implications of this magnitude deserves careful study and an opportunity for input from all affected. Since Implementation in December 2014, the sugar managed trade agreements between the United States and…
Since we are hearing reports of a potential renegotiation of the sugar suspension agreements with Mexico, we are submitting the following comments on behalf od the Sweetener Users Association (SUA), a coalition of companies that utilize nutritive sweeteners in their business operations, as well as the trade associations to which they belong. Although portrayed as…
We respectfully request that you immediately use your authority to make adequate sugar available in the United States at reasonable prices. Because of the federal sugar program and marketplace factors, both supplies and prices are distorted, to the detriment of workers, businesses, consumers – and even some segments of the sugar industry.