Business & Tech

Shaheen in Portsmouth: High Sugar Prices Not Sweet for Jobs

Speaking to labor union representatives in Portsmouth Monday, U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-NH, said high sugar prices are killing manufacturing jobs across the country.

Shaheen made her remarks at the annual meeting of the Teamsters Bakery & Laundry Conference at the Sheraton Portsmouth Harborside Hotel.

Sugar prices in the U.S. are about twice as high as the rest of the world. The Coalition for Sugar Reform, representing manufacturers that buy sugar from growers, said it stems from federal policies supporting those growers. The American Sugar Alliance, however, said changes to those policies would hurt growers and lead to job loss. The ASA blames volatility in foreign sugar markets for the high prices.

Shaheen sponsored legislation reforming federal policies that "unfairly benefit rich sugar producers."

"For every sugar-growing job saved through high sugar prices, we lose about three manufacturing jobs," Shaheen told the Teamsters Monday. "This has got to change."


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