It is disappointing that the Times-Union continues to rehash one-sided political rhetoric about free trade, while completely ignoring the 40,000 Florida jobs and over $2 billion in economic activity that sugar farming provides to our state each year.

Candy manufacturers leave the United States for the same reason other manufacturers leave -- to take advantage of lower total costs. Labor represents a much larger portion of the cost of candy than sugar does.

A spokesman for the Kraft company specifically cited cheaper labor costs in explaining why its LifeSavers plant is moving to Canada, where sugar costs barely two cents a pound less. In Mexico, where some other candy manufacturers have relocated, sugar actually is more expensive than in the United States.

In considering an international move, manufacturers weigh many factors. Those include taxes, environmental standards, labor costs, required employee benefits and the ability to build efficient new plants at low cost and to use those plants more fully. Cost of cotton, sugar or other raw materials is rarely a major factor.

We are proud of the fact that Florida sugar is produced by well-paid workers under the strictest environmental controls in the world. Consider the longer-range consequences when U.S. manufacturers move to areas where neither the workforce nor the environment has the same protections as Florida provides.