Sugar got front-page notice from the Wall Street Journal today. The article focused on a letter sent to the Secretary of Agriculture to increase the amount of sugar that can be imported without tariffs. Prominent food firms as well as several nonprofit groups, including CEI, signed the letter.
Currently, U.S. sugar users are facing steep prices and a shortage of sugar. Under the U.S. sugar program – a system of price supports and import restrictions — there are quotas on the import of tariff-free sugar. The USDA and the U.S. Trade Representative administer the import quotas for sugar, which must be consistent with the U.S. commitments to the World Trade Organization. That quota amount is allocated to 41 countries, which means that the sugar can enter the U.S. duty-free or with a low tariff. Import amounts above that face a steep tariff, unless the USDA determines that the domestic supply can’t meet the demand and increases the quota amount.
That’s what the letter is asking:
Without a quota increase, consumers will pay higher prices, food manufacturing jobs will be at risk and trading patterns will be distorted. Please act now in the interest of all Americans.
According to earlier studies by the General Accountability Office and the OECD, the cost of U.S. sugar policies to American consumers ranges from $1.5 billion to $1.8 billion. See here and here for CEI publications on the sugar issue.
Your hosts Richard Morrison and Cord Blomquist bring you Episode 32 of the LibertyWeek podcast with special guest Sam Kazman and surprise guest co-host Jeremy Lott. We start by looking into the possible future of the Federal Communications Commission with nominee Julius Genachowski about to ascend to the chairmanship, and then take another stroll through the New Great Depression with high-level financial talks between unpopular British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and über-popular President Barack Obama. Oregonian brewers fight a proposed fifteen cents a pint tax in Beer News, and the Lady Madoff tries to stash away tens of millions from the feds in this edition of Scandal Watch. We hit our stride with an interview with CEI General Counsel Sam Kazman and his tales of the icy global warming rally staged earlier this week here in Washington, D.C. Finally, a little belt-tightening Olympic News from the USOC.
Listen here!
Major newspapers around the country including the Washington Post, the LA Times, and the Wall Street Journal are urging President-elect Barack Obama to pass the U.S.-Colombia Free Trade Agreement in the lame duck session. The Los Angeles Times said it bluntly, “It’s time to stop playing games with a trade pact whose economic and political benefits are good for both nations.”
Some reports of the meeting between the president-elect and President Bush said that the president had pushed for the trade agreement in exchange for support of the auto loan package, but that was denied.
CEI has strongly supported the passage of this agreement based on its own merits — it provides surety for continued liberalized trade for Colombia, it opens up Colombian markets to U.S. goods without high tariffs, and it helps cement the close relationship with a Latin American ally besieged by leftist neighboring governments.
RSS Updates 
RSS E-Mail Updates 
Twitter 
Facebook 
CEI.org 
WorkPlaceChoice.org 
GlobalWarming.org 
CEI On Demand Video 
Liberty Week Podcast 