Canadians might take a hit if a pair of university agricultural economists persuade U.S. politicians to scrap the country's costly sugar policy.
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| Saputo's Dare cookies sales to U.S. markets would suffer |
The Canadian losers would be food processing companies that have developed huge U.S. sales of products such as cookies because they have a significant sugar-based competitive advantage.
Another indirect loser would be corn producers and high-fructose-processing plants because imported sugar would compete for markets. Sugar beet producers in Southwestern Ontario would be wiped out.
The agricultural economists say U.S. sugar
policy is costing consumers $1.7 billion in higher food prices, denying
food-processing companies opportunities to increase production and hire more
workers and benefitting only about 20,000 “mostly wealthy” farmers.
Vincent Smith of Montana State University and Michael
Wohlgenant of North Carolina State University also say the U.S. sugar policy
keeps out sugar produced by some of the world’s poorest farmers.
They support political moves to scrap the policy, including
high tariffs designed to keep U.S. sugar prices at or above 23.3 cents per
pound.
The Free Sugar Market Act has been introduced by
Congressman Joe Pitts, a Republican from Pennsylvania, and the Free Sugar Act
has been introduced by Senator Richard Lugar, a Republican from Indiana.
The U.S. sugar policy has, however, been a major
benefit to Canadians, such a market for corn sweetener and for sugar-containing
foods, especially cookies.
