In the US, onions are the only commodity that can not be traded as a futures contract due to 1958 Onion Futures Act. Why was this restriction not repealed along with other deregulation measures of 80s and 90s? Why was onion seen as different from other commodities?

The On ion Fut ures Act of 1 9 5 8 was en act ed in response to concerns about the potential for on ion price manip ulation and market inst ability . The Act prohib its the trad ing of on ion fut ures contract s , which are financial instruments that allow buy ers and sell ers to agree to buy or sell a comm od ity at a specified price and date in the future . \n \n The restriction on on ion fut ures contract s was not repe aled along with other der eg ulation measures of the 1 9 8 0 s and 1 9 9 0 s because on ions were seen as different from other comm od ities in several ways . First , on ions are a per ish able comm od ity that are highly sus cept ible to price manip ulation and market inst ability . Second , on ions are a st ap le food c rop that are consum ed by a large and diverse group of people , which makes them particularly sensitive to changes in supply and demand . Finally , on ions are a relatively small and special ized market compared to other comm od ities , which makes it easier for a small group of market participants to manipulate prices . \n \n In summary , the On ion Fut ures Act was en act ed to prevent price manip ulation and market inst ability in the on ion market , and this restriction was not repe aled along with other der eg ulation measures because on ions are a unique and special ized comm od ity . </s>