Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-94fs2 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-14T17:09:13.555Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Changes in the U.S. Demand for Sugar and Implications for Import Policies

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 May 2017

Rigoberto A. Lopez
Affiliation:
Department of Agricultural Economics and Marketing, Cook College, New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey, 08903
Jorge L. Sepulveda
Affiliation:
Department of Agricultural Economics and Marketing, Cook College, New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey, 08903
Get access

Abstract

The thrust of this paper is to identify and measure structural changes in the U.S. demand for sugar and to derive subsequent implications for import restriction policies. Empirical results indicate that changes in consumer preferences and the availability of closer and cheaper sweeteners in food processing, especially high fructose corn syrup (HFCS), are exerting a downward pressure on sugar demand. As the U.S. demand for sugar decreases and the food industry adjusts faster to sweetener choices, the U.S. government would have to impose more restrictive import barriers to maintain prices to domestic sugar and HFCS producers. Furthermore, the welfare impact of U.S. sugar policy options on domestic consumers and food processors will be lessened.

Type
Articles
Copyright
Copyright © 1985 Northeastern Agricultural and Resource Economics Association 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

The authors are grateful to Kay Sachtler, Thomas Spreen, and two anonymous referees, for helpful comments on an earlier draft.

New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station, Publication No. D-02121-1-85, supported by State and U.S. Hatch Act funds.

References

Carman, Hoy F.A Trend Projection of High Fructose Corn Syrup Substitution for Sugar.” American Journal of Agricultural Economics 64 (1982):625633.Google Scholar
Gemmill, G. T. The World Sugar Economy: An Econometric Analysis of Production and Policies. Michigan State University, Agricultural Economics Report No. 313, 1976.Google Scholar
George, P. and King, G. Consumer Demand for Food Commodities in the United States with Projections for 1980. Giannini Foundation monograph No. 26, University of California-Berkeley, 1971.Google Scholar
Hassan, Z. A. and Johnson, S. R. Consumer Demand for Major Foods in Canada. Agriculture Canada, Economics Branch Publication No. 76/2. 1976.Google Scholar
Johnson, D. G. The Sugar Program: Large Costs and Small Benefits, Washington, D.C.: American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research, 1974.Google Scholar
Judge, G. G., Hill, R. C., Griffiths, W. E., Lutkepohl, H., and Lee, T. C. Introduction to the Theory and Practice of Econometrics. New York: John Wiley and Sons, 1982.Google Scholar
Phlips, L. Applied Consumption Analysis. North-Holland/American Elsevier, 1972.Google Scholar
U.S. Department of Agriculture, Sugar and Sweetener Report, Washington, D.C. 1976-1984.Google Scholar
U.S. Department of Agriculture, Sugar Market Statistics, Washington, D.C. 1970-1976.Google Scholar
U.S. Department of Agriculture, Sugar: Background for 1985 Farm Legislation. Economic Research Service, Agricutural Information Bulletin No. 478, 1984.Google Scholar
U.S. Department of Commerce, Survey of Current Business, Washington, D.C. 1970-1984.Google Scholar
U.S. Department of Labor. Wholesale Prices and Price Indexes, Washington, D.C. 1970-1984.Google Scholar
U.S. General Accounting Office. Sugar and Other Sweeteners: An Industry Assessment. Comptroller General Report to the Congress, CFD-79-21, February 26, 1979.Google Scholar
U.S. International Trade Commission. Sugar: Report to the President on Investigation No. TA-201-16 under Section 201 of the Trade Act of 1974, Washington, D.C.: USITC Publication No. 807, March 1977.Google Scholar
Young, K. H. Demand for Sugar in the United States. Ph.D. dissertation, Columbia University, 1969.Google Scholar