Mexico’s sugar producers plan to urge the government to ban imports of U.S. high fructose corn syrup if a bilateral sugar dispute is unresolved and the Trump administration decides to reinstate anti-dumping duties.
Juan Cortina, the president of the Mexican Sugar Chamber, said in a telephone interview that he is not optimistic an accord can be reached by June 5, the new deadline set for current talks. In the latest round of negotiations, the two sides failed on Monday to agree on conditions to keep Mexican imports free from tariffs.
Mexico is the largest source of imported sugar for the U.S., with a forecast of 1.16 million tons for 2016-17 season ending Sept. 30, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. In recent years, Mexico imported as much as 1.6 million metric tons of corn syrup annually from the U.S. The syrup, produced by companies such as Archer-Daniels-Midland Co., is used as a sweetener in soft drinks, among other applications.
U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross gave notice on May 1 that anti-dumping and countervailing duties would be reinstated on June 5 if no agreement is reached over sugar imports. The department initiated a review in November of an earlier decision to suspend duties on Mexican sugar, saying some transactions weren’t in compliance with a 2014 accord, when both countries agreed to set import quotas and a floor price.
Source: www.bloomberg.com