WASHINGTON, D.C. (RFD News) — The U.S. sugar industry says foreign imports are hurting business.
During a recent industry gathering, Rep. Shontel Brown said the trend cannot continue.
“That market manipulation has driven billions of dollars in losses across the industry, and if we don’t act, we’ll continue watching factories close, communities lose jobs, and generations of family farms disappear. In just the last decade, we’ve lost sugar processing facilities, cane mills, and entire regions of domestic production. We cannot allow that trend to continue.”
Deputy Agriculture Secretary Stephen Vaden also attended the gathering and said USDA will not stand for unfair foreign competition.
“We put American farmers first, and we’re not going to allow unfair foreign competition to take our own markets away from us. There is a commitment across this administration to wherever the law allows us, put the finger on the scale for the American farmer, and that includes the American sugar farmer.”
U.S. sugar leaders say over-quota tariffs on imported sugar are too low and have not been addressed since the rate was set in 2000. They say the tariff is not high enough to effectively limit imports and note the U.S. entered the year with its highest sugar stock on record.
