The Clinton Administration made free trade one of its top concerns and it appears that President Bush will also give free trade a high priority. Free trade means the elimination of barriers to trade such as tariffs, quotas and voluntary export restraints. But the pursuit of free trade apparently does not apply to the sugar industry.
Current policies relating to the sugar industry are anything but free-trade oriented.
Trade barriers erected in 1981, and still in effect, limit imports of sugar and provide for loans to growers. Protected from external competition and aided by new technology, favorable weather and U.S. price supports, domestic sugar production reached a record 8.5 million tons in 1999. The bumper crop caused prices to decline to 18 cents a pound, the lowest level in 20 years. Both sugar growers and refiners were hurt by the price decline. The industry fears the loss of cane-refining capacity and a steady increase in imports.