There is a long history with the USA and the sugar industry. The USA fucked a lot of international sugar cane farmers back in the day and that was what caused the boom in them growing marijuana, and you know the rest of that story.
Some fascinating sugar history to read if you have some time to get your google on. Here is a cliff notes basic timeline, but if you want the gritty stuff you need to dig a little deeper:
http://sugarreform.org/why-reform/hi...sugar-program/