Posted by Consumers for World Trade
Mon, 16 Jul 2007 22:30:00 GMT
Ezra Finkin
July 12, 2007 -- Just this
week the House Agriculture Committee released its Farm Bill outlining new changes
to federal support for farmers. As the bill relates to sugar, it looks like
consumers and workers might get less than a sweet deal.
For years our Sugar Program as it is known channels big subsidies to sugar growers
to reduce their costs and let them grow more sugar. Yet that's not all Big Sugar
gets. The sugar program also severely restricts the amount of foreign supplies
of sugar that is allowed into the US market. These restrictions - a blend of
very high border taxes and quotas - are designed to make sure that US consumers
don't get the benefit of tasting sugar grown in other countries such as Brazil
and Haiti.These trade
restrictions on foreign supplies of sugar have actually been partly to blame
for the elimination of 11,000 sugar refining and candy manufacturing jobs. These
industries have had to close their doors to US operations and open shop overseas
to take advantage of cheaper supplies of sugar abroad. Of course these jobs
wouldn't be lost if Congress eliminated the combination of highly restrictive
quotas and tariffs.
Instead of turning things
around Congress has made this bad system worse. The recently released Farm Bill
proposes to make it that much more difficult for US candy makers and consumers
to get access to foreign supplies of sugar. In the end, it is workers and consumers
that will pay for this kind of protection offered to such a wealthy few.
Click here
to read CWT's letter on the proposed changes to the sugar program.
Posted in Sugar | 4 comments
Posted by Consumers for World Trade
Fri, 06 Apr 2007 20:22:00 GMT
Christopher Wilken, Legislative Representative
April 6, 2007 -- Easter is upon us -- that time of malted eggs, chocolate
bunnies, and hidden taxes.
Hidden taxes? Yep.
They take the form of a high border tax--called an import tariff--on sugar,
which, when coupled with import qutoas on the sweet stuff serves to make the
U.S. price of sugar twice what it is on the world market. Every candy maker
in the U.S. has to pay this price for the stuff you will put in your Easter
basket this Sunday. A portion of that price increase is passed along to each
and every one of us. Not only when we purchase our Peeps this weekend, but every
time we eat a candy bar.
According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)
the U.S. sugar program costs consumers roughly $1.5 billion dollars a year.
This is an enormous amount of dough. And keep in mind that while the costs of
the program are paid by all American consumers , 42% of the benefits are handed
to 1% of all sugar producers, or 150 farms. The difference between the domestic
price of sugar and the price abroad is essentially a hidden “protection
tax.” It can also be seen as an indirect payment by consumers to special
interests as compensation for an effective lobbying operation. It's the worst
kind of corporate handout.
Unfortunately, the cost of the sugar program is not limited to what consumers
pay at the checkout. The Florida Everglades are slowly shrinking, in part because
sugar price supports have fueled the expansion of the sugarcane industry in
an area where large corporate farming would never have been possible. As a result,
this program leads to the degradation of an additional three to five acres of
the Everglades every day. In addition, US protection of the sugar industry hurts
developing countries by denying them access to one of the largest markets for
one of their most competitive crops. Industries that consume sugar, such as
confectioners are impacted by the high price of sugar. In fact, Brach’s
and Life Savers are just two American candy makers that have moved their operations
off-shore in part to gain access to sugar at world prices. For the remaining
US confectioners these high prices cut into their bottom line and reduce what
they are able to allocate towards other costs such as employing workers. If
you don’t mind shelling out double for big sugar, you may want to think
about the impact of the sugar program on the environment, developing countries,
and U.S. employment.
Just a few things to think about during this holiday season.
Posted in Sugar | 6 comments
