American Sugar Alliance says conversion of foreign sugar to ethanol will prevent sugar glut, as new NAFTA rules open US markets to low-cost Mexican sugar

An executive with the American Sugar Alliance said that increased imports of sugar into the US from Mexico under the North American Free Trade Agreement will not affect the domestic sugar producers because of a proposed rule that all excess sugar be converted into ethanol.

The proposed rule is the the Department of Agriculture will buy excess sugar and auction it to ethanol producers. Under NAFTA and the Caribbean Free Trade Agreement, the US is required to import 1.65 million tons of sugar per year.

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