News Releases for December 2003
December 12, 2003
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Hoeven, Three Sugar State Governors Press President On Sugar Trade Policy
Governors Push White House To Exclude Sugar From CAFTA Trade Talks
Letter to President Bush 
(172 kb pdf)
BISMARCK, N.D. - Gov. John Hoeven, along with the governors of three prominent sugar-producing states, has sent a letter to President George W. Bush urging him to exclude sugar tariffs from the U.S.-Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) currently being negotiated by federal trade officials.
Governors Dirk Kempthorne of Idaho; Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota; and Judy Martz of Montana joined Hoeven in signing the letter, which presses the fact that its inclusion would severely impact the U.S. industry and the rural communities where it operates.
"Our farmers and companies that produce sweeteners are highly competitive on a multinational basis, and have repeatedly expressed a willingness to compete with sugar producers in other countries," the letter says. "However, this competition must be on a fair economic footing. Our farmers cannot compete with other countries' treasuries…. Mr. President, we very much need your support on this important issue."
Hoeven made a similar request in earlier letters to President Bush last August and September. Since then he has repeatedly contacted the office of U.S. Trade Representative Robert Zoellick to press the sugar industry position, most recently Thursday morning in a call to Agriculture Trade Ambassador Allen Johnson. Hoeven has also pressed the issue with White House officials, including U.S. Commerce Secretary Don Evans. He is pressing the administration to maintain tariff rate quotas that protect the nation's sugar producers from subsidized foreign imports.
"In North Dakota alone, more than 1,800 family beet farmers generate more than $1 billion in economic activity annually," Hoeven said. "Nationally, the industry supports 11,000 sugar beet producers and about 372,000 direct and indirect jobs in 42 states, with more than $21 billion in economic activity. We need to impress on the President just how vital the sugar industry is to American farmers and just how critical it is to preserve it."
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