ID SJM110

Idaho Legislature urges Congress and the Trump Administration to raise the tier-2 over-quota duty on imported sugar, which has not been adjusted since 2000, to protect domestic sugar beet producers from foreign imports sold below production costs

Idaho is the second-largest U.S. sugar beet producer with approximately 170,000 acres under production, generating over $1 billion annually and supporting more than 500 farm families

Sugar beet market prices have declined more than 42% over the past two years while on-farm production costs increased over 30% since 2018 and interest costs surged 73% since 2020

The U.S. sugar beet industry has closed eleven processing factories since 2000, and Idaho's sugar processing industry currently employs approximately 2,000 people in rural areas

The memorial directs the Secretary of the Senate to forward copies to the President, Congress, Idaho's congressional delegation, and the Secretaries of Commerce and Agriculture