Trump throws the sugar industry a fresh lifeline with new restriction on imports

The federal government has propped up the domestic sugar industry through a blend of import tariffs, quotas, and price guarantees for at least four decades. But that substantial intervention hasn't kept U.S. sugar farmers from losing a piece of the market to foreign sugar producers.

Now they're getting a lifeline from Trump. The USDA says it won't import "specialty" sugars above what the U.S. is obligated to purchase under existing trade accords. It added that U.S. sugar growers lost 15% of the market to imports in the past two decades that's led to sugar mills and processors shutting their doors.

"Although sugar policy is uniquely designed to protect sugar farmers from the dumping of heavily subsidized foreign sugar, those farmers are not immune from the same distress facing other agricultural producer," Agriculture Deputy Secretary Stephen Vaden said in a statement. "This decision begins to right the ship.”

The Department of Agriculture didn't immediately respond to a request for additional details.

The announcement came on the same day that the Trump administration announced a new 17% tariff on Mexican tomatoes, a step experts say will cause higher shelf prices for shoppers. Trump has reignited his trade war over the past week, threatening tariffs on the E.U. and over a dozen countries around the world, including Mexico and Canada.

The U.S. imported nearly $2.6 billion of raw sugarcane last year, much of it originating in Brazil and Mexico. Those imports currently are governed by a two-tiered tariff regime in which the rate applied depends on the amount of imports. Once sugar imports cross a certain threshold, a higher tariff kicks in.

Republicans are beefing up another protectionist program. The U.S. Sugar Program establishes price guarantees that result in higher profits for domestic sugar farmers at a cost of $1 billion per year, according to the Government Accountability Office. The recent GOP megabill signed into law boosts the guaranteed price for farmers of raw and refined sugar by about 35% for each pound sold to the government. Raw sugar sellers can now get nearly 27 cents per pound, up from 20 cents per pound.

The American Sugar Alliance, which represents U.S. sugarcane and sugar beet farmers, said the USDA decision will prevent foreign imports from undercutting the U.S. sugar industry.

"America’s sugarbeet and sugarcane farmers and workers are essential to preserving a vital American-made supply of sugar and we are grateful for @USDA’s continued engagement on this important issue," the group said in a statement on X $TWTR.

Republican lawmakers from sugar-producing states also supported the USDA move. Sen. John Hoeven, Republican of North Dakota, said the Trump administration was "putting American farmers first."