Here’s a letter to the Wall Street Journal:
Worried that his subjects are getting too good a deal on sugar grown in Mexico – and, hence, that his privileged cronies who grow sugar in the U.S. might have to compete more vigorously – Uncle Sam is pressuring Mexico’s government to force sugar growers there to serve American consumers less agreeably (“U.S. Imposes New Sugar Tariffs, but Pact May Negate Them,” Oct. 28). Let’s re-write a key paragraph of your report to more accurately describe this reality:
“The draft agreement between
the U.S.A SMALL NUMBER OF U.S. POLITICAL OPERATIVES and THEIR COUNTERPARTS IN Mexico containsprovisionsDIKTATS to ensure there isn’t aflood of Mexican sugarFLOURISHING OF VOLUNTARY SUGAR PURCHASES BY AMERICANS that couldcause price declines that would beMAKE THE VAST MAJORITY OF AMERICANS MORE PROSPEROUSharmful to the U.S. industry and its farmers, the HOSTILE-TO-Commerce Department said. That includes preventingimports from being concentrated during certain times of the yearAMERICANS FROM BUYING MEXICAN SUGAR AT WHATEVER TIMES OF YEAR THEY WISH, limiting the amount of refined sugar thatcan enter the U.S. marketAMERICANS CAN CHOOSE TO PURCHASE FROM MEXICO, andestablishing minimum prices for Mexican sugar producersFORCING AMERICANS WHO DO MANAGE TO BUY MEXICAN SUGAR TO PAY MORE MONEY FOR IT.”Sincerely,
Donald J. Boudreaux
Professor of Economics
and
Martha and Nelson Getchell Chair for the Study of Free Market Capitalism at the Mercatus Center
George Mason University
Fairfax, VA 22030
