An earlier analysis by USDA suggested a similar figure for excess consumer costs. The USDA study used a hypothetical price gap of 5 cents per pound and was therefore quite conservative because it compared the 22-cent US raw sugar price to a landed cost of 17 cents, equivalent to a world market price of about 15 cents. At that world price level, many countries would have a strong incentive to expand production if they knew they had markets in the United States and Europe that would willingly import their lower cost sugar. The world price has averaged less than12 cents a pound in recent years and is currently about 10 cents. The third negative impact is on industrial consumers.
Consumers have many choices in deciding how to spend their money.
Sugar import restraints and the associated sugar price support program significantly harm companies that make and sell sweetened products. These result in a higher cost structure that puts sweetened products at a distinct disadvantage relative to other food and beverage products. This means that our member companies sell fewer products and hire fewer people. This policy hobbles growth by imposing unreasonable pricing on a highly competitive industry. As manufacturers achieve lower costs, they pass most of that benefit on to consumers because it is in their interest to do so.