The American Sugar Alliance has filed a Section 301 complaint with the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, alleging foreign subsidies are flooding the global market with low-priced sugar and pushing U.S. prices near loan forfeiture levels. “We’ve got surplus dumped sugar from all these foreign exporters; it is horribly depressed,” said Luther Markwart, executive director, American Sugarbeet Growers Association. “They throw it on the market below the cost of production just to get rid of it.” Markwart says the industry is urging quick action. “This is a full court press; we need to get this problem fixed as quickly as we can, if we don’t, we could very well see forfeitures this year.”
