[NYTr] NAFTA Jeopardizes Mexican Sugar Industry

[All the News That Doesn't Fit]

Prensa Latina, Havana
http://www.plenglish.com


NAFTA Jeopardizes Mexican Sugar Industry

Mexico, Dec 24 (Prensa Latina) The jobs of thousands of Mexican
sugarcane workers will be at stake after tariffs on sugar and sweetener
imports from the United States are lifted, it was reported on Monday.

As of January 1 and in compliance with the agricultural chapter of the
North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), Mexican borders will be
opened to subsidized food products from the United States.

Senate's Sugar Industry Special Committee President Juan Bueno Torio
warned against an eventual invasion of foreign sweeteners.

In addition, the lack of funds to modernize the sugar complex La

Concepcion, in the state of Veracruz, will worsen the crisis by
decreasing sugarcane yield.

That factory and the sugar mill La Independencia, in Veracruz, are
likely to close in a short term. As a result, 5,000 families will lose
their jobs, so they will have no other choice but to migrate to the
United States, as others have done, he pointed out.

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