WASHINGTON, D.C. — In a move to bolster domestic agriculture, the U.S. Department of Agriculture recently announced it will not authorize additional specialty sugar imports beyond treaty-required levels, marking a significant shift toward protectionist trade practices under the Biden-to-Trump policy transition.
The decision aligns with Secretary Rollins’ “Farmers First” agenda and follows growing concern over the economic toll on U.S. producers. According to USDA officials, the sugar sector has faced a 15% market share loss to imports over the past two decades, resulting in mill closures and declining rural stability.
Deputy Secretary of Agriculture Stephen Alexander Vaden emphasized that the cumulative impact of natural disasters, elevated production costs, and trade policies favoring foreign suppliers has helped drive what is projected to be the largest agricultural trade deficit in U.S. history.
“Although sugar policy is uniquely designed to protect sugar farmers from the dumping of heavily subsidized foreign sugar, those farmers are not immune from the same distress facing other agricultural producers,” said Vaden. “This decision begins to right the ship.”
The USDA’s announcement signals a broader effort by the Trump administration to restore trade balance and protect American agricultural producers from continued erosion of their market share.
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