Additional raw sugar access into the US for Australian exporters until September 2023

Published 2023년 4월 11일

Tridge summary

The Office of the US Trade Representative has reallocated additional raw sugar tariff-rate quota to Australia, making it the fourth largest holder of this quota. This reallocation is due to underutilization by other countries and Nicaragua's removal from the WTO TRQ. Australia's sugar exports, valued between $1.5 and $2.5 billion annually, are primarily focused on Asian markets. The US market accounts for about 2% of these exports but offers a higher price due to the US government's minimum sugar price policy. Australia's sugar production, mainly in Queensland, contributes significantly to the country's agricultural exports.

Disclaimer:The above summary was generated by Tridge's proprietary AI model for informational purposes.

Original content

11 April 2023 On 13 March 2023, the Office of the US Trade Representative announced the reallocation of unused quotas under their imported raw sugar tariff-rate quota (TRQ). Australia was allocated an additional 24,479 tonnes (11% of the unused quota balance). This is in addition to the initial allocation of 89,293 tonnes allocated in July 2022 for FY2023 (Oct 1 – 30 Sep). Due to domestic policy settings, the US government maintains a minimum price for sugar. This generally keeps the US raw sugar price well above the world benchmark. Over the past decade, the average US raw sugar price was over 75% above the world price (refer Figure 1). While Australia exports a relatively small amount of sugar to the US (less than 2% of all export volumes), it remains a lucrative market due to the significant price premium. Figure 1 – US and world raw sugar prices As part of the WTO Uruguay Round agreements, the US is required to import a minimum of 1,117,195 metric tonnes of raw sugar at zero ...

Source: Austrade