The U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC) announced on Friday its preliminary determination of injury in the antidumping and countervailing duty (AD/CVD) investigation of Mexican sugar imports. The ruling came in response to a petition, filed in March by a group of U.S. sugar producers, that claimed the government of Mexico is subsidizing and dumping sugar in the United States.

IDFA and other members of the Sweetener Users Association anticipated the ruling because the threshold for determining injury is considered low. The vote now allows the case to proceed to the next phase of the investigation. 

Following the announcement, the SUA released a statement saying, “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.”

Ice cream and other dairy products consume approximately 11 percent of industrial sugar deliveries. If the coalition of domestic sugar producers who filed the AD/CVD petitions is successful, IDFA members could face significantly higher costs for sugar. IDFA is working closely with SUA on all aspects of the case to demonstrate its lack of merit.

For more information, contact Beth Hughes, IDFA director of international affairs, at bhughes@idfa.org.