22 Sugar Producer AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2020
Sweet & Sour
Unfair subsidies worldwide underscore
the need for U.S. sugar policy.
FROM THE ASA
By Phillip Hayes | Director of Media Relations
The widespread use of foreign
government support and subsidies has
contributed to a wildly unpredictable
global sugar market.
Foreign intervention only continues to
rise as nations struggle to prop up their
inefficient producers and deal with the
overproduction spurred by these same
sugar subsidies. As a result, sugar exports
are being dumped by dozens of countries
on the world market at prices that are
half the cost of producing it worldwide
and well below their own countries'
internal consumer prices.
The American Sugar Alliance reviews
all of the USDA's Semi-Annual Sugar
GAIN reports and compiles all mentions
of the various ways more than 20 foreign
governments intervene in their sugar
markets into one convenient report. The
most recent report can be found at www.
sugaralliance.org.
This report details a whole host
of different interventions: State-run
companies. Direct payments. Export
subsidies. Government-set prices.
These are some sour policies for
