President Trump early Thursday touted a new sugar trade agreement with Mexico.
“New Sugar deal negotiated with Mexico is a very good one for both Mexico and the U.S.,” Trump tweeted Thursday
“Had no deal for many years which hurt U.S. badly.”
The U.S. and Mexico earlier this month announced an agreement in principle on the deal.
{mosads}The U.S. sugar industry earlier this month announced support for a tweaked trade deal with Mexico after initially opposing the long-awaited agreement.
The American Sugar Alliance, which represents sugar farmers and producers, told the Commerce Department that it will back the “tightened” deal aimed at bringing Mexico’s sugar industry into compliance with U.S. law.
“We’ve had productive conversations with Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross over the past week, and we recognize that he is 100 percent dedicated to ending the job loss and injury caused by Mexico’s predatory trade practices,” said Phillip Hayes, a spokesman for the trade group, in a statement.
U.S. sugar producers estimate they have lost more than $4 billion because Mexico has been flooding the market with subsidized sugar.
The domestic sugar industry has been pressing for a new agreement after they say a 2014 deal failed to rein in Mexico’s trade violations.