Why don’t the sugar companies get congress to drop the high tarriffs and subsidies and compete in a free market ...
Sugar prices are significantly lower here in Canada, than in the U.S. We don't subsidize the (beet) sugar industry, nor protect it with special tariffs. Most of our sugar is imported, at the world price — which is a lot lower than the protected price big sugar extracts from the U.S. consumer and tax payer.
The protectionism for big sugar resulted in the switch, by big food processors, to “corn sugar” (HFCS). HFCS (produced from the product of yet another heavily subsidized agribusiness) is cheaper than the overpriced sugar.
Government policies created the artificially high demand for HFCS. Now, ironically, more government intervention is being demanded to fix the problems that government intervention created.
You summed up the issue more succinctly than I; and have (IMHO) identified the only solution.