Several U.S. sugar groups filed a claim on March 28 with the International Trade Commission and the International Trade Administration at the Department of Commerce stating that the government of Mexico is subsidizing and dumping sugar in the United States. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack broached the topic last week during a House Agriculture Committee hearing, saying the claim was “ill-timed” because trade between the United States and Mexico is “precarious” right now.

The petition requests countervailing duties and antidumping duties to be placed on imports of sugar from Mexico. It was signed by the American Sugar Cane League, American Sugarbeet Growers Association, American Sugar Refining Inc., Florida Sugar Cane League, Hawaiian Commercial and Sugar Company, Rio Grande Valley Sugar Growers, Inc., Sugar Cane Growers Cooperative of Florida and the United States Beet Sugar Association.

The Coalition for Sugar Reform, of which IDFA is a member, issued a press release commending Representative Danny Davis (D‐IL) for speaking against the petition last week during the House Ways and Means Committee hearing on trade.

The International Trade Commission issued a notice of investigation, which appeared in the Federal Register on April 3. Interested parties were given seven days to file an entry of appearance. The ITC conference for interested parties to make oral presentations is scheduled for Friday, April 18, and post-conference briefs are due Wednesday, April 23.

For more information, contact Clay Hough, IDFA senior group vice president, at chough@idfa.org.