Sugar Wars
The McClatchy Company Newspaper recently reported that the competition in sugar production coming out of Mexico is causing huge problems for American sugar producers. Apparently the Mexicans have doubled their exports and a formal investigation has been opened by our fearless leader Mr. Obama ( I say fearless tongue-in-cheek of course). At any rate, it is possible that a new set of import duties will be imposed on Mexican sugar which could broaden the dispute to other industries. so in order to get the scoop I called Mark Duffin, Executive Director of the Idaho Sugar Beet Growers Association and asked him to discuss the so-called sugar wars with Mexico: "I would love to talk with you about it but we have been advised to refer everything to our public relations people so I am going to have to refer you to Phillip Hayes of the American Sugar Alliance. They don't want us all out there offering our two cents. I have an opinion but I cannot share it."
All right, I called Phillip Hayes and couldn't get through but I did find this in the McClatchy article. "A spokesman for the American Sugar Alliance, Phillip Hayes, said the sugar industry faces losses of up to $1 billion this year because of what it alleges is dumping _ selling at prices lower than what it costs to produce _ by Mexican sugar producers."We are far more efficient than Mexico's sugar industry, yet we are losing market share because of Mexico's predatory trade practices," Hayes said.
