"Yes, I think that sugar prices ought to be supported. I think that a 13 1/2-cent sugar price is about the minimum that would be advisable, both for domestic producers and also for imported sugar. We have supported the new farm bill which provides price supports until the international sugar agreement can be implemented. I did this reluctantly, as you may know. We did not support the de la Garza amendment in its original form and-accepted it only if the conferees would agree that the price support mechanism would be terminated at the time an international sugar agreement was reached, if the international sugar agreement encompassed a price of about 13 1/2 cents. Tariffs are a terrible thing to impose, because many of .our friends in Latin America depend heavily upon sugar. One of the most democratic nations in the world derives almost its entire income from the export of sugar. And for us to put an obstacle to their shipment of sugar to our country would, I think, almost destroy their economy, their government, probably shift it toward a complete dependence on totalitarian assistance and would not be fair, as well. We've tried to avoid a protectionist policy since I've been in office. And I think the best way to do it is through international agreements that, in effect, set minimum and maximum prices for commodities whose prices, without constraint, fluctuate so wildly. We've seen this happen in the case of coffee. We've seen it happen in the case of sugar, where it went almost up to a dollar and then dropped down to about 8 cents. Well, we can accommodate that. It's devastating to a sugar farmer or to the sugar producers, but our national economy is so varied that we can accommodate it. But for a country where 85 percent of all their exports is sugar, this is devastating. So, I don't like tariffs as such. They would particularly be damaging to our closest friends and allies in this hemisphere. They also, I think, would cost the American taxpayer a great deal more. And I think that an international agreement on sugar of about 13 cents would be the preferable approach, and until that can be put into effect, I have reluctantly agreed to support the price support aspects of the new farm bill."
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
Activists from the United StatesPresidents of the United StatesNovelists from the United StatesDiplomats of the United StatesNobel Peace Prize laureates
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
Imported from EN Wikiquote
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Jimmy_Carter
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
Related Quotes
"There is a new mood in America. We have been shaken by a tragic war abroad and by scandals and broken promises at hom…"
"I don't think that Israel has any legal or moral justification for their massive bombing of the entire nation of Leba…"
"At the end of a long campaign, I believe I know the people of our state as well as anyone. Based on this knowledge of…"
"I guess I always had wanted ultimately to be Chief of Naval Operations. But when I went back home to where I had live…"
"We should live our lives as though Christ were coming this afternoon."
"I have nothing against a community that is made up of people who are Polish, or who are Czechoslovakians, or who are …"
"I've looked on many women with lust. I've committed adultery in my heart many times. This is something that God recog…"
"Sometimes we try to justify this unsavory business on the cynical ground that by rationing out the means of violence …"
"My name is Jimmy Carter, and I’m running for President. It’s been a long time since I said those words the first time…"
"Any system of economics is bankrupt if it sees either value or virtue in unemployment. We simply cannot check inflati…"