Changing the US sugar program into a standard crop program: consequences under the North American Free Trade Agreement and Doha.

摘要

The study analysed the impact of continuing the existing US sugar programme, replacing it with a standard programme, and implementing the standard programme with multilateral trade liberalization. Under the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), duty-free sugar imports from Mexico could undermine the programme's ability to operate on a 'no-cost' basis to taxpayers as large public stocks of sugar could accumulate. The replacement of the current sugar programme by one similar to other major US crop programs would solve the problem of potential stock accumulation, accommodate further trade liberalization under a new WTO and future bilateral trade agreements, but would induce significant fiscal outlays through direct payments.