A recent Bloomberg story notes that Americans are facing higher prices for sweets and other goodies during the holiday season amidst rising pressure on sugar supplies. While part of this is due to droughts in sugar‐​producing regions of the United States and Mexico, the article notes that prices are also being driven higher by protectionist sugar policies. Inflated sugar prices aren’t an unfortunate byproduct of these laws—it’s their entire point.

Although inflation is a problem the world over, the US sugar market has been uniquely impacted due to its protectionist regulations. US rules cap both domestic sales and the volume of foreign supplies that can be brought in under low duties; all other sugar imports past those so‐​called tariff‐​rate quotas are subject to higher taxes. The regulations are intended to protect grower profits, especially given higher US production costs, and prevent other countries from flooding the US with sugar.

These constraints on both imports and domestic production have resulted in Americans paying nearly twice the international price of sugar. And sometimes that gap is even wider.