ITC rules Mexican sugar imports harm domestic producers

The U.S. International Trade Commission has determined that domestic producers of sugar are harmed by imports from Mexico, which the Commerce Department has determined are subsidized.    The U.S. International Trade Commission has determined that domestic producers of sugar are harmed by similar imports from Mexico, which the Commerce Department has determined are subsidized by the Mexican government and sold in the United States at less than fair value.
   As a result of the ITC’s affirmative determinations, suspension agreements that Commerce previously entered concerning sugar from Mexico will remain in effect.
   The Sweetener Users Association called the ITC’s decision “unfortunate.”
   “The ITC missed a key opportunity to do the right thing for American consumers, taxpayers and businesses. The idea that domestic producers were suffering at a time when they made record profits is confounding. What is clear, however, is that the temporary decline in U.S. sugar prices in the 2012/13 and 2013/14 crop year was attributable to the United States’ failed sugar policy, excess supply in the combined U.S.-Mexican sugar sector and the normal working of commodity markets – not to imports from Mexico,” the trade group said. 
   SUA said it plans to “redouble our efforts to work with Congress to enact meaningful sugar program reform.”