WASHINGTON -- U.S. sugar farmers harvest about $1.9 billion a year in subsidies at the expense of consumers because the government keeps domestic prices almost three times higher than the world price, a watchdog agency said.
The Agriculture Department's sugar support program curbs imports to protect U.S. beet and cane farmers, while also setting the minimum price at 18 cents a pound for cane and 22.9 cents a pound for beet sugar. The world price is about 8.5 cents a pound.As a result, the consumers pay as much as $1.9 billion in the form of higher prices for candy, ice cream, soft drinks, baked goods and other products. Companies such as Hershey Foods, Mars Inc. and others pass on those costs to the consuming public, the General Accounting Office said. The cost is up from $1.5 billion estimated by the GAO in 1996.