Even If You Support Free Trade, You Should Oppose Mexico's Nafta Sugar-Dumping

Robert Morano

U.S. Commerce Department Secretary Wilbur Ross has given Mexico until June 5 to comply with U.S. trade laws over what the department says is illegal dumping of sugar by Mexico on U.S. markets. As background, Mexico was found to be in violation of anti-dumping rules by the U.S. International Trade Commission in 2015, after an ITC study of the period from fiscal years 2012 to 2014. "Based on the record in the final phase of this investigation, we find that an industry in the United States is materially injured by reason of imports of sugar from Mexico that Commerce has found to be sold in the United States at less than fair value and subsidized," the report found. The lost sales and revenues realized by just a small sampling of U.S. sugar producers totaled $33 million on about 284 million pounds of sugar for the period covered in the report. Industry-wide, estimates are closer to $2 billion. For fiscal years 2012 to 2014, Mexican shipments of sugar almost doubled to 2 million short tons, according to the commission report, while the price per unit dropped from $801 to $469, or about $0.40 per pound to $0.234 per pound. Those prices are lower than market prices in both Mexico and the United States over the same period, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture figures, and are likely below Mexico's cost of production. That is a clear violation of anti-dumping rules. As a result, Mexico's market share in U.S. sugar markets more than doubled from 8% in 2012 to 21% in 2014. Quite a feat in just three years, except it was not the outcome of free markets or even free trade, it was a government-subsidized flooding of U.S. markets by Mexico, all designed to increase market share and drive U.S. producers out of business. As it turns out, President Donald Trump is right. Weakness on trade policy is provocative. This market distortion then prompted U.S. sugar producers to complain to the federal government, which in turn resulted in the suspension agreements on tariffs collection with Mexico starting in 2014 — a regime the Commerce Department admits is failing.

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Navajos say EPA should clean its spill rather than trying to swindle Indians

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Your government in action: They're supposed to protect the environment but are just protecting their ass.

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Soon there will be more than unaccompanied, illegal minors crossing our border.  The difference is the wolves will be legal.

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Great, now we'll pay twice as much for tomatoes. Who knew Obama was anti-Salsa?

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Here's the video that accompanies the CBS story

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