NW Lawmakers Call For Investigation Into Potential Sugar Dumping

Idaho Senators Mike Crapo, Jim Risch, Representatives Russ Fulcher and Mike Simpson, as well as eastern Oregon’s Cliff Bentz have signed a letter supporting U.S. Trade Representative Ambassador Jamieson Greer to utilize a Section 301 investigation into unfair and discriminatory trade practices by foreign sugar-producing countries.

“So basically, the trade representative can initiate an investigation of these countries to see if the government, has unfairly created oversupply in the market and have utilized unfair," noted Samantha Parrott, Executive Director of the Snake River Sugarbeet Growers Association.  "And then once that investigation occurs, if the U.S. government finds that they have violated trade laws, then we can put more tariffs on these countries.  And then that would definitely help our sugar market.”

Parrott noted that Brazil and India are the most common offenders of dumping cheap sugar on the U.S.

According to the lawmakers, over the past decade, 14% of America’s beet sugar processing facilities and 12% of domestic cane sugar mills and refineries have closed, including the complete loss of sugarbeet farming in California last year and sugarcane farming in Hawaii in 2016 and Texas two years ago.  Nationwide, sugar farmers and workers support more than 151,000 jobs and generate more than $23 billion in economic activity annually. 

Click Here to read that letter.

The bipartisan, bicameral letter, led by Representatives North Dakota's Julie Fedorchak and Louisiana's Troy Carter and Senators John Hoeven from North Dakota and Elissa Slotkin from Michigan.

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