By: Cynthia1770

Cynthia1770 — Sat, 05 Jan 2008 18:24:47 +0000

Hi Cindy,
My google alert for HFCS picked up your article. Personally, I
think that Mexico got the raw end of the deal, now required to
import HFCS DUTY FREE. The US Corn Refiners Association
has been importing that industrial sweetener for a while, but
Mexico, trying to support their sugar growers, placed a high
import tax on soft drinks with HFCS. NAFTA lawyers and US senators cried foul and that is why effective Jan 1, HFCS is being imported to Mexico sans Mexican import taxes. As to
importing cheap corn: Yes, that will destabilize the corn growers,
of Mexico regardless of the type of corn the Mexican farmer grows, and it will cause an increase in the price they pay for
foods, because it will the force the Mexican farmer to lower his
price for selling his corn to compete with the cheaper imported
corn. This will consequently lead to out of work farmers, due to
their lower income and inability to pay for their supplies and
the workers’ labor. Finally, when you have fewer producers of
any product, prices increase, sometimes dramatically. (Basic laws of supply and demand) We did this in Jamaica a few years a go and it was heartbreaking. Jamaica had a beautiful little economy in the dairy industry. The Jamaican dairy farmers
employed many and provided healthy milk for the nation. Then
we, by virtue of free trade agreements, started importing dry
milk very cheaply. It destroyed not only the Jamaican dairy industry, but their national economy as well. I saw a PBS
documentary on the story and it was very unsettling.
Acutally, I am not interested in the economics of HFCS trading,
I am more interested in the health aspects of our nation eating
and drinking the industrial sweetener. It has been attributed to
our trend to obesity, increase in Type II diabetes, and other
health hazards. Read your food labels hawkishly. Take care.

Comments on: NAFTA Fully Loaded

By: Cynthia1770