U.S. corn refiners attack Mexico’s import sweetener tax extension

U.S. corn refiners attack Mexico’s import sweetener tax extension    A group of corn refiners attacked a decision by Mexico’s lower congressional house to extend for a year the 20 percent tax on soft drinks made from imported high fructose corn syrup.
   Audrae Erickson, president of the Corn Refiners Association, said the extension “threatens to cause irreparable damage to the overall U.S.-Mexico trade relationship.”
   The association said the tax, first enacted by Mexico in January 2002, closed U.S. exports of high fructose corn syrup to Mexico for the past two years. Before the tax, Mexico imported 2 million metric tons of U.S. high fructose corn syrup a year, a value of $620 million, according to the association.
   The association has thrown its support behind retaliatory tariffs against Mexico. It endorsed Iowa Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley’s retaliatory tax on Mexican tequila imports through the proposed Mexican Agricultural Trade Compliance Act bill.