Calling on our allies to seal a sweet deal

JULY 23, 2015: I'M urging our allies on many battlefields to once again recognise the historically strong relationship between Australia and the United States and come up with a sweet deal for sugar in the US Trans Pacific Partnership.Negotiators head to Hawaii next week for what could be the final round of talks, and we need a strengthened sugar trading relationship.Queensland sugar cane growers will be understandably devastated if we do not see an outcome of a commercially significant agreement on sugar with the US.The United States will need to import more sugar over the next 10 years, as they face increasing demand.And the Aussie cane growers have allies within the US who want this deal too.A coalition supporting US sugar reform, the US Chamber of Commerce and a major US sugar refiner are calling on their government to reward Australia, a recognised world leader in sugar supply, with meaningful market access.Tariffs on sugar are making products in the United States more expensive and sugar manufacturers are moving operations out of the United States so they can import sugar.The loss of industry and jobs would have to be a concern for the President.A commercially meaningful deal on sugar, and we’re talking a quota far in excess of the current 87,000 tonnes, will not only be good for jobs in the sugar-growing regions of Queensland, it will be good for jobs in the US manufacturing sector.The best outcomes for all concerned would be to break a long history of tariffs and put sugar on the table for serious negotiations.The United States will host a meeting of Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) Trade Ministers in Maui, Hawaii from July 28-31, preceded by a meeting of TPP Chief Negotiators from July 24-27.