Trade in Real Life: How U.S. Sugar Farmers Snack on Americans’ Treats

By Gabriella Beaumont‐​Smith of Cato. Excerpt:

"Yet, the U.S. sugar program purposefully makes sugar more expensive. Basically, the U.S. government restricts the supply of sugar to keep the price of U.S. sugar high. The government does this in a few ways but primarily by buying U.S. sugar to keep it off the consumer market and by imposing strict tariff‐​rate quotas where very low quantities can be imported duty‐​free. Any excess is subject to a tax reaching almost a hundred percent. As a result, the U.S. sugar price is about double the world price of sugar, as shown in the chart.

This program inflicts high costs on the food manufacturers pumping out these cool new snacks, and ultimately on consumers who end up paying more for snacks. The U.S. sugar program is estimated to cost consumers up to $4 billion a year and induce job losses up to 20,000 in food processing and confectionary industries.

So, next time you’re enjoying some Cinnamon Toast Crunch popcorn, or a bite‐​size Butterfinger, remember that the U.S. sugar program unnecessarily makes them more expensive."