“Trump Administration Quietly Lifted Ban on Dominican Sugar Company Over Forced Labor”

The Trump administration on Monday quietly rescinded an order that had blocked a major Dominican sugar producer with political ties to President Trump from shipping sugar to the United States because of allegations of forced labor at the company.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection modified a “withhold release order” that had been issued in 2022 for raw sugar and sugar products made by the Central Romana Corporation, blocking exports to the United States from the company. The Customs website now lists the order as “inactive.”

Labor right groups expressed frustration at the change, saying that Central Romana, whose sugar had been sold in the United States under the Domino brand, had not significantly improved its labor practices…

Central Romana said in a statement that the company was “pleased to learn that the administration of the U.S. government has reviewed all the shared evidence and agreed that there is no basis to continue” the withhold release order…

Many of the company’s employees are Haitian migrants, some of whom were born on Central Romana farms…

…The Fanjul family, which also founded Florida Crystals Corporation, is a part owner of American Sugar Refining, the world’s largest sugar refinery, which sells sugar under brand names including Domino and C&H Sugar…

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