Lawmakers seek fairer trade for Mexican sugar imports

A bipartisan group of 10 U.S. senators is urging Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross to seek “fair competition” for U.S. imports of Mexican sugar, “rather than restricting commerce and increasing prices.”    A bipartisan group of 10 U.S. senators is urging Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross to seek “fair competition” for U.S. imports of Mexican sugar “rather than restricting commerce and increasing prices.”
   The U.S. Commerce Department warned the Mexican government in early May that it intends to resume collection of antidumping and countervailing duties on sugar imports starting June 5 if a new agreement between the two countries is not reached.
   In 2014, Commerce reached final affirmative determinations in antidumping and countervailing duty investigations regarding sugar imported from Mexico. In addition, the U.S. International Trade Commission found that domestic sugar producers were being unduly harmed by these imports from Mexico.
   However, that same year, an agreement was reached with the Mexican government and sugar producers to suspend the U.S. antidumping and countervailing duties on these imports.
   In 2016, the American Sugar Coalition raised concerns with Commerce about the operation of the agreements, and petitioned the department to formally review whether the agreements continue to meet U.S. law. Commerce in December issued preliminary findings that the agreements may not be working.
   “The suspension of the agreements between the United States and Mexico impose a price floor on imported sugar that is significantly higher than the guaranteed price for domestic sugar,” the senators wrote in a May 26 letter to the Commerce secretary. “While this policy benefits U.S. sugar growers and refiners, it harms American consumers, who are forced to pay higher prices at the grocery store.”
   Signatories to the letter include Sens. Pat Toomey, R-Pa.; Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H.; John McCain, R-Ariz.; Robert P. Casey Jr., D-Pa.; Rob Portman, R-Ohio; Margaret Wood Hassan, D-N.H.; Michael S. Lee, R-Utah; Christopher A. Coons, D-Del.; Richard Durbin, D-Ill.; and Mark R. Warner, D-Va.
   “U.S. sugar prices are already nearly double world prices, and ongoing import quotas and mandatory price floors further erode Americans’ purchasing power,” the lawmakers said. “It is imperative that any trade agreement must ease the current price restrictions on Mexican sugar imports and provide financial relief for American consumers who lose out under this protectionist policy.”