Why It Matters
The American Sugarbeet Growers Association is lobbying on the sugar provisions of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which President Donald Trump signed July 4, 2025.
The act raised loan rates for sugarcane and beet sugar processors for crop years 2025 through 2031. It also gives beet processors priority when allotments are adjusted upward.
By the Numbers
The group's amended third-quarter report lists $200,000, signed Nov. 5.
- Prior quarter: $200,000 in the second quarter, so no change.
- Year earlier: $130,000 in the third quarter of 2025, so the amount is up $70,000.
- Other registrants: none. The group lobbies in-house, and no outside firm appears in any period.
Two lobbyists are named on the amendment:
- Luther Markwart, senior adviser.
- Zachary Clark, CEO and executive vice president.
Broader Context
The filing also names the U.S. sugar program, including the tariff-rate quota and high-tier sugar entries. A tariff rate quota lets a set volume of imports enter at a lower duty.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) announced fiscal 2026 quota allocations for raw cane, refined and specialty sugar in August 2025. The Department of Agriculture (USDA) said July 14, 2025 it would allow no additional specialty-sugar imports. USDA argued that imports had more than doubled over 20 years and that producers had lost 15 percent of the U.S. market.
The Organic Trade Association opposed that decision. It said, using import data and its own calculations, that it would add more than $85 million in tariffs on organic sugar imports.
The American Sugar Alliance urged Congress to pass the act, citing "necessary updates" to sugar policy. The American Farm Bureau Federation backed its agricultural provisions as strengthening the farm safety net.
Members of Congress have also written on sugar trade. On May 21, Sen. John Hoeven (R-ND) co-led a letter urging USTR to act on foreign sugar imports. He cited the expired Tier-2 tariff and 700 percent growth in out-of-quota imports. Rep. Michelle Fischbach (R-MN-7) signed a bicameral letter backing a USTR Section 301 investigation of foreign sugar trade practices. Rep. Mike Simpson (R-ID-2), Sen. Mike Crapo (R-ID) and Sen. Jim Risch (R-ID) signed the same letter. The group is listed among the endorsers.
On crop protection, Fischbach led a July 24 letter urging the Environmental Protection Agency to restore access to the insecticide chlorpyrifos. The release lists the group among those giving "strong backing."
On crop insurance, the Congressional Research Service reported that the act increases premium subsidies and expands coverage options.
The Bottom Line
Watch whether USTR acts on the Section 301 investigation that the May letters requested. Watch also whether the EPA responds to the chlorpyrifos letter. The record shows no scheduled date for either.
Across complete quarters, the group's in-house spending rose from 2025 into 2026 and has held level in the last two quarters. The team has not changed.
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