La Coalition For Sugar Reform demande à M. Froman d'améliorer l'accès au marché pour le Canada, l'Australie dans le PTP

WASHINGTON (DC) – La « Coalition for Sugar Reform » demande au représentant du commerce américain, l'ambassadeur Michael Froman, d'avoir des importations de sucre beaucoup plus importantes dans le cadre d'une entente de partenariat transpacifique (PTP) complète. La coalition, qui comprend plusieurs associations de confiseurs, de boulangers, de produits laitiers et de grignotines ainsi que des groupes d'affaire, a écrit une lettre au responsable du commerce américain afin de réduire les restrictions sur l'importation du sucre auxquelles font face les consommateurs et les entreprises d'alimentation. Plus particulièrement, le groupe identifie le Canada et l'Australie parmi les 12 pays du PTP comme fournisseurs importants du marché de sucre aux États‑Unis.

Le programme de sucre aux États‑Unis garantit que les producteurs américains ont des prix élevés, bien supérieurs aux prix mondiaux. Pour garder les prix élevés, le gouvernement américain garde des quotas et tarifs élevés pour le sucre raffiné et les produits contenant du sucre. L'ALENA n'a pas libéralisé ces restrictions pour le Canada, donc les négociations du PTP représentent la première occasion depuis plus de vingt ans de créer des possibilités tangibles sur le plan commercial pour les exportateurs canadiens de ces produits.

Voir aussi : Froman Signals Willingness To Make Concessions On Sugar In TPP, July 7, 2015

Vous trouverez ci‑dessous la lettre de la Coalition for Sugar Reform envoyée au représentant du commerce américain :

July 2, 2015
The Honorable Michael Froman
United States Trade Representative
Winder Building
600 17th Street, NW
Washington, DC 20508

Dear Mr. Ambassador:

As the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement negotiations move toward the final stages of completion, we write to encourage you to reach a comprehensive agreement that significantly expands U.S. imports of sugar, which are needed in our domestic market.

Consumers and food companies currently face severe restrictions on both domestic sugar production and imports that insulate U.S. sugar producers almost entirely from normal market pressures. This system guarantees sugar companies many years of excessively high prices, at times nearly twice the world price, and has cost American consumers and businesses an estimated $15 billion since 2008 alone in artificially inflated prices. Tight domestic sugar supplies can be expected for the next several years, unless we allow commercially meaningful access to TPP countries that have the ability to supply the U.S. market.

Overly protective treatment of sugar producers has widespread negative effects on our economy. We’ve lost more than 120,000 jobs in sugar-using industries since 1997, and denial of real access to our TPP trading partners leaves us vulnerable to other countries’ refusals to open markets to valuable American agricultural commodities. This self-imposed handicap also stifles our progress on other significant trade priorities and prevents much-needed opportunities for critical American industries to grow their exports.

We urge you to resist calls to maintain unnecessary trade protections for a small special interest group of sugar producers and processors. Loosening the current excessive restrictions on sugar imports would have far-reaching benefits to our economy as a whole. Allowing commercially significant access to the U.S. sugar market for our TPP negotiating partners, including Australia and Canada, will encourage reciprocal market access abroad for many other American commodities and services.

We appreciate your efforts and the work of your trade team in obtaining a balanced TPP agreement, and providing additional sugar market access is a key ingredient for achieving that objective.

Sincerely,

Coalition for Sugar Reform

American Bakers Association

Competitive Enterprise Institute

Council for Citizens Against Government Waste

Emergency Committee for American Trade

Independent Bakers Association

International Dairy Foods Association

National Association of Manufacturers

National Confectioners Association

National Foreign Trade Council

Retail Confectioners International

Snack Food Association

Sweetener Users Association

U.S. Chamber of Commerce

Voir : Sweetener Users Association, Washington DC.