U.S. chamber president rips sugar lobby’s attack on DR-CAFTA

U.S. chamber president rips sugar lobby’s attack on DR-CAFTA

U.S. Chamber of Commerce President Thomas J. Donohue said the effort in Congress to ratify the country’s recently negotiated Dominican Republic-Central America Free Trade Agreement should not be derailed by the U.S. sugar lobby.

   “The amount of sugar that will enter the United States under DR-CAFTA amounts to just 1 percent of U.S. consumption,” Donohue told attendees at the May 3 Council of the America’s Washington conference. “That comes out to a teaspoon and a half of sugar each week for every American.

   “I find it difficult to accept the argument that importing a teaspoon and a half of sugar per person a week will ruin the livelihoods of North Dakota beet growers and Louisiana cane growers alike,” he said.

   Donohue added: “DR-CAFTA will have no noticeable impact on sugar prices whatsoever — which is more than you can say about the weather, Splenda, and the Atkins diet.”

   The chamber president said it would be “a kick in the teeth” if Congress throws out DR-CAFTA over the “interests of a single industry.

   “I hope those in the sugar industry will understand this and join the side of growth and opportunity instead of protectionism and isolationism,” Donohue said.

   The chamber will continue to press lawmakers on Capitol Hill to approve DR-CAFTA.