Corn syrup is our regional sugar, just like how in Europe they use beet sugar. We can get coke with cane sugar in it super easy, it's called Mexican coke and still comes in a glass bottle.

Sugar cane is expensive to grow because it's pretty brutal on the agricultural workers and notorious for labor abuses. I've heard a big bonus to the Alligator Alcatraz is that it is in Florida where the captive labor force could be put in sugar fields which might bring down the price of cane sugar but idk if cane sugar in our soda will ever happen again sans regulation. The EU and probably SA have regulations against it which is why it's not popular there.

Corn syrup is not good for you, but it really does make some delicious tasting food. I put it in my French toast casserole. Corn starch is crucial in making things crunchy and why so much of the food elsewhere doesn't have the right mouth feel.