The Sweetener Users Association on Friday praised the International Trade Commission’s formal announcement that it will examine the agreements between the United States and Mexico suspending the antidumping and countervailing duty investigations of Mexican sugar imports and providing for limits on Mexican sugar exports to the United States.
The ITC posted a Federal Register notice Friday that it would examine the agreements in response to petitions filed on January 8 by Imperial Sugar Company of Sugar Land, Texas and AmCane Sugar LLC of Taylor, Michigan. Imperial and AMCane Sugar contend that the agreements will not allow them to obtain enough sugar for their refining operations.
“We are pleased that the ITC is taking a second look at the ill-conceived suspension agreements in the AD and CVD investigations of Mexican sugar imports,” said the Sweetener Users Association, which represents candy companies and other industrial-scale users of sugar.
“Managed trade between the United States and Mexico that further restricts sugar imports is detrimental to the U.S. sugar-using industry, and ultimately all American consumers, because the United States does not produce enough sugar annually to meet our domestic needs,” the users said in the statement.
“We have long argued, and will continue to argue, against such an arrangement, which sets a bad precedent for our bilateral trade relationship and could be locked in for several decades.”
“From the time that U.S. sugar producers filed the AD and CVD petitions in March to this day, we have strongly advocated for the AD and CVD cases to be allowed to proceed to a final injury determination at the commission, and we will continue to press for a continuation of the investigations.
“It is our firm belief that the real culprit is not Mexico; it’s the outdated sugar program. The Depression-era program has cost consumers and businesses billions a year, taxpayers nearly $300 million in FY 2013 and the U.S. economy nearly 127,000 food manufacturing jobs.”
Source: www.hagstromreport.com