Indian Sugar Program “Helping” Farmers to Death
If you think the U.S. sugar program is bad, you should take a look at the sugar industry mess in India. At least in the U.S. you don’t have farmers committing suicide over government agricultural policies. According to a recent Business Standard report, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is planning a ‘Raita Chaitanya Yatre’ (farmer’s […]
Ag Committee Hearing: Foreign Subsidies Jeopardizing Free Trade and Harming American Farmers
The House Committee on Agriculture conducted a hearing on October 21 exploring how foreign government meddling in various agricultural markets was hurting U.S. farmers while making a mockery of the notion of “free trade.” In opening remarks, Committee Chairman K. Michael Conaway noted that when it comes to government subsidies, “in many cases what foreign […]
TPP provides light at end of the sugar subsidy tunnel
Critics of Rep. Ted Yoho’s “Zero for Zero” resolution who say it can’t be done should heed the wisdom of getting out of the way of people already doing it. Z4Z – in which the United State would eliminate its sugar program of relatively minor import restrictions and tariffs in return for other nations simultaneously […]
India’s Sugar Woes in an Imperfect Global Market
Well, here we go again… Those in Congress who believe in unicorns and a global free market in sugar need only take a look at this Reuters story, “Govt plans incentives for sugar mills to pay cane growers: sources,” published on Tuesday by the Business Standard in New Dehli… “The (Indian) government is likely to […]
India’s Sugar Export Policy is “Almost Criminal”
India is the world’s second largest producer of sugar, behind only Brazil. Its sugar industry is also a basket case. Let’s start with the fact that growing sugar requires huge amounts of water. Indeed, according to a column this week by Ajit Ranade in the Pune Mirror, sugar crops in Maharashtra take up “3 percent […]
Donald Trump and the U.S. Sugar Program
A serious drought in India could result in the nation’s sugar farmers getting the short end of the stick in order to direct dam and canal water to people and animals, the Indian Express reports. “It is high time mill owners explored modern technology to minimise the use of water during plantation and crushing,” declared former […]
Unable to Beat Sugar Meddlers, Nigeria Joins Them
When most Americans hear “Nigeria,” what usually comes first to mind is “email bank scam.” But in an article published last week by This Day Live, Abdullahi Yunusa weighed in with some very interesting observations about the global sugar market and Nigeria’s national and economic interests. Indeed, Yunusa warned that “The sugar industry is too […]
Did the U.S. Sugar Program kill Oreo cookies?
In a recent Daily Signal column, Bryan Riley was in near hysteria over the loss of 600 jobs baking Oreo cookies in Chicago after Nabisco announced it was moving its manufacturing operation to Mexico. According to Riley, the decision was directly related to the current U.S. sugar program of relatively minor import tariffs and quotas. […]
Sugar program opponents not entitled to their own facts
I understand why free market advocates are opposed to the U.S. sugar program of modest tariffs and import quotas that don’t cost taxpayers a dime. I’m a free marketer myself and want the sugar program to go away, as well. However, I live on Planet Reality, not Planet Nirvana. And the reality is we now […]
Defending Rubio’s defense of U.S. sugar farmers
James Bovard’s recent USA Today column attacking Sen. Marco Rubio’s (R-Fla.) support of U.S. sugar policy is built on the false assumptions that a global free market in sugar exists and that supporting U.S. farmers is at odds with being conservative. Every sugar-producing country in the world subsidizes its sugar industry with policies that are […]
India looking to give Subsidized Sugar away
India’s government heavily subsidizes its sugar industry, which is in crisis. With such sweet incentives from India’s government, Indian farmers continue to grow the crop far in excess of what can be consumed at home. And with an equally huge glut of sugar in the global marketplace, India can’t sell its excess without additional government […]
Near-Death of Hawaiian Sugar Industry Explained
The opinion column below, published last week in the Honolulu Star Advertiser, provides a quick primer on the danger of trade deals that open a global “free market” in which our “partners” undercut us through government subsidies that our own people do not receive. As you’ll read below, thanks to some ill-advised trade deals in […]
Beware the Big Candy Bailout
Even though U.S. Census data say otherwise, U.S. candy manufacturers claim they have been shipping jobs overseas for years. And according to their extremely well-compensated lobbyists, the fault is the high price of domestic sugar. As such, Big Candy is once again seeking a congressional bailout of sorts this week in the Senate Agriculture Appropriations […]
It’s not a free market if the market isn’t free of government intervention
How in the world does a country “hampered by inadequate moisture and poor (sugar) cane quality, small farm size, lack of mechanization, and underutilization of cane mills” nevertheless find itself the world’s second largest sugar exporter? Through the world of government intervention, that’s how. In a recent study conducted for the American Sugar Alliance (ASA), […]
U.S. should not follow E.U.’s “Monstrous Idiocy” on Sugar
For U.S. policy makers who think it’s only “third world” countries – such as Thailand, India and Brazil – that juice up their agricultural industries with government subsidies and other market-distorting handouts, the European Union wants you to know they can dish farm welfare with the best of ‘em. In a column titled “The Monstrous […]