[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 289 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







108th CONGRESS
  2d Session
S. RES. 289

     Expressing the sense of the Senate with respect to free trade 
  negotiations that could adversely impact the sugar industry of the 
                             United States.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            January 23, 2004

 Mr. Dorgan (for himself, Mr. Dayton, Mr. Coleman, Mr. Conrad, and Mr. 
  Enzi) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the 
                          Committee on Finance

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
     Expressing the sense of the Senate with respect to free trade 
  negotiations that could adversely impact the sugar industry of the 
                             United States.

Whereas the President has concluded negotiations with El Salvador, Guatemala, 
        Honduras, and Nicaragua to form a Central American Free Trade Agreement 
        (referred to in this resolution as ``CAFTA''), and is seeking to 
        incorporate Costa Rica and the Dominican Republic into that agreement;
Whereas CAFTA seeks to provide those countries with increased access to the 
        United States sugar market;
Whereas, simultaneously, the Administration has embarked on a multitude of free 
        trade agreements with major sugar producing nations such as Australia, 
        members of the South Africa Customs Union, Thailand, nations of the 
        Western Hemisphere, and others, and has made it clear that access to the 
        United States sugar market is on the negotiating table;
Whereas, the United States sugar market is already oversupplied, with declining 
        consumption forcing domestic sugar producers to store extremely high 
        quantities of sugar;
Whereas significant increases in sugar imports under CAFTA and other trade 
        agreements currently under negotiation could render inoperable basic 
        elements of the United States sugar program enacted under the Farm 
        Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 (Public Law 107-171);
Whereas effects on the United States sugar program would wreak havoc in the 
        United States sugar industry, and result in the loss of thousands of 
        jobs and farms involved in sugar production in 19 States across the 
        country; and
Whereas any constructive effort to address distortion in the world sugar market 
        should be handled multilaterally through the World Trade Organization, 
        in a manner that addresses comprehensively and simultaneously the sugar 
        subsidy programs of all major world producers, and should not be handled 
        through bilateral or regional agreements: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That it is the sense of the Senate that--
            (1) the President should renegotiate provisions of CAFTA 
        relating to access to the United States sugar market, so as to 
        grant no greater access to the United States sugar market than 
        is currently enjoyed by the signatories to the agreement; and
            (2) the President should not include sugar as an element of 
        negotiations in any bilateral or regional free trade agreement.
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