From a reader (I only promised I wouldn’t mention sugar, not that readers wouldn’t):

Something else that should be noted: the sugar import tariff…makes [operating in the United States]…prohibitively expensive for many…manufacturers who can’t replace sugar with high-fructose corn syrup, such as candy-makers: so much so, that many confectioners are actually relocating to Canada, where the cost of raw unrefined sugar is three times lower.

Kraft closed its Michigan LifeSavers factory and moved to Quebec; Brach has moved production to Argentina and Mexico; Ferrara Pan has two Canadian plants. Chicago alone has lost nearly half its confectionery workforce; some fear that it’s only a matter of time before Wrigley and Tootsie Roll depart….

So, when you say “a few cents off the price of a pound of sugar wouldn’t make all that much difference to the American economy,” in fact, you’re quite wrong. Inflated sugar prices cost the US economy around $3bn a year, and have contributed to putting thousands of Americans out of work. So by relaxing this protectionist idiocy, the US could provide a small boost for its flagging manufacturing industry….