That source has more detail on the 'sugar deal' than most sources do, BUT, it's from more than 3 weeks ago, before the actual deal.
Mexico had free access to the U.S. sugar market under NAFTA, but U.S. sugar refiners accused it of dumping subsidized sugar, undercutting their businesses. In retaliation, the United States slapped large duties on the Mexican sweetener, but a 2014 agreement suspended the tariffs in return for quotas and price floors for Mexican sugar.
The new deal would lower the proportion of refined sugar Mexico can export to the United States to 30 percent of total exports, from 53 percent, one source said. It also cuts the quality of Mexico's crude sugar exports to 99.2 percent, from 99.5 percent, the source said, tackling a key complaint of U.S. refiners, who said Mexican crude sugar was close to refined and going straight to consumers.
The U.S. sugar market is protected by a complex web of price supports and import quotas, which confection makers and other critics say artificially inflates domestic prices. NAFTA opened the doors to Mexican sugar in 2008.
Basically Mexico is too good at making sugar, and without tariffs to protect them the US farmers and sugar refiners are bitching they can't compete. Their mixed reactions now are because some are realists and understand there wasn't going to be a special exception from NAFTA for their industry, while others were holding out hope that there wouldn't be a 'deal' at all and high tariffs would kick back in.
Trump has ultimately allowed free trade, with a deal straight down the line the US has been negotiating for years, and he actually admits it when he trumpets the deal as "good for Mexico and the US". It's not America First, it's not a more favorable deal for the US than for Mexico ... it's pretty much exactly what any other Administration would have done. The US just doesn't have other options. A high tariff wall on Mexican sugar would have pleased a few US farmers but hugely increased prices for confectioners and thus for consumers, who massively outnumber the sugar farmers and their employees. In fact it would have driven some companies out of business and caused a loss of US jobs (overall, since sugar farming in the US is no longer an employment-intensive industry ... it's highly mechanized), and that's even before considering if Mexico would strike back with other tariffs.
I suppose requiring Mexico to export some of its sugar elsewhere is a slight achievement. If that was actually in the final deal.
