ITC votes to continue Mexico sugar import investigation

   The U.S. International Trade Commission on Friday determined that there’s a “reasonable indication” that a U.S. industry is harmed by sugar imports from Mexico that are allegedly subsidized and sold in the United States at less than fair value.
   Chairman Irving A. Williamson and Commissioners Dean A. Pinkert, David S. Johanson, Meredith M. Broadbent, and F. Scott Kieff voted in the affirmative. Commissioner Rhonda K. Schmidtlein did not participate in these investigations.
   As a result of the ITC’s affirmative determinations, the U.S. Commerce Department will continue its investigations on imports of these products, with its preliminary countervailing duty determination due by June 23, and its antidumping duty determinations due by Sept. 4.  
   The ITC’s public report Sugar from Mexico will contain the views of the commission and information developed during the investigations. The report will be available after June 9.
   The petitioners of the investigation are American Sugar Cane League, Thibodaux, La.; American Sugarbeet Growers Association, Washington; American Sugar Refining, West Palm Beach, Fla.; Florida Sugar Cane League, Washington; Hawaiian Commercial and Sugar Company, Puunene, Hawaii; Rio Grande Valley Sugar Growers, Santa Rosa, Texas; Sugar Cane Growers Cooperative of Florida, Belle Glade, Fla.; and U.S. Beet Sugar Association, Washington. The petition was filed with the ITC on March 28.
   “While U.S. sugar producers had the right to file the petition under U.S. law and the USITC has at this early stage made a preliminary determination of injury, it should not be assumed that the case has merit. To the contrary, we expect that the U.S. sugar producers will lose when the USITC is able to complete its full investigation,” said the Sweetener Users Association in a statement. The association opposes U.S. restrictions placed on the trade of sugar.  
   “This petition is a diversionary tactic to distract from the real cause of distortion in the U.S. sugar market — the U.S. government’s sugar program. Changes made to the program in the 2008 farm bill are to blame, not Mexico,” the association added. “From 2009-2012, U.S. sugar prices soared well above the world price because of the sugar program, incentivizing growers in both Mexico and the United States to increase production. A surplus of sugar resulted, leading to a return to historical pricing levels that U.S. and Mexican sugar producers are experiencing in the United States today.”