Not So Sweet: Economic Implications of Restricting U.S. Sugar Imports from Mexico

Abstract

After Mexican sugar producers gained unlimited, tariff-free access to the U.S. market in 2008, U.S. and Mexican governments bilaterally agreed to constrain Mexico’s sugar exports to the United States because of dumping allegations by U.S. producers in December 2014. This analysis employs a dynamic partial equilibrium model to estimate the price and welfare impacts of the U.S.-Mexico agreement by simulating the reimplementation of North American Free Trade Agreement sugar policies. Estimates suggest liberalizing the market would decrease U.S. sugar prices, translating to an average annual decrease in producer surplus of approximately $660 million and increase in consumer surplus of $1.67 billion across the simulation.