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Sugar could be deemed 'sensitive' in trade talks
OMAHA (DTN)--Sugar cane and sugar beet growers have a lot riding on the latest round of World Trade Organization talks and Central America Free Trade Agreement negotiations.
Recently, a top government trade policy official said the United States is very likely to designate sugar as a sensitive product in the WTO Doha Round. Such status would protect sugar from severe tariff cuts that may affect other agricultural products.
Members of the sweetener industry met at the International Sweetener Symposium in Vail, Colo., recently to voice their opinions and worries about changes that could result from the WTO Doha Round and CAFTA. The American Sugar Alliance sponsored the event.
Don Phillips, an ASA trade advisor, said the ASA "supports the WTO process as the only viable way to address global sugar market distortions," but ASA opposes the Central America Free Trade Agreement.
James Johnson, president of the U.S. Beet Sugar Organization, said if CAFTA passes, the U.S. sugar industry might not survive.
"Our message to Congress and to the administration is that we will work with others to defeat the CAFTA, which could ruin the U.S. sugar industry without achieving any progress of foreign sugar subsidies," Johnson said. "Foreign subsidies are not addressed in bilateral and regional free trade agreements, but must be addressed multilaterally, in the WTO--all countries, all programs."
Phillips said policy must be linked to the reduction and elimination of foreign subsidies and other trade-distorting practices.
"Otherwise, dumped and subsidized imports would depress U.S. market prices and make it impossible for the government to operate U.S. sugar policy at no cost to U.S. taxpayers," he said.
ASA officials don't expect Congress to take action on CAFTA this year.
Date: 8/24/04
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