The U.S. Department of Commerce finalized agreements in late December with the Mexican government and Mexican sugar exporters to suspend the antidumping (AD) and countervailing duty (CVD) investigations of sugar imports. A fact sheet issued by Commerce lists the key terms of both agreements.

For the countervailing duty agreement, provisions to prevent an oversupply of sugar in the U.S. market include calculating an export limit for Mexico, preventing imports from being concentrated during certain times of the year, and limiting the amount of refined sugar from Mexico. The antidumping agreement establishes reference, or minimum, prices to guard against undercutting or suppressing U.S. prices.

The Sweetener Users Association, of which IDFA is a member, opposed the agreements and expressed concern when they were finalized on December 19.  

“These agreements dismantle the unrestricted free trade of sugar between the United States and Mexico since 2008 and undermine the core principles of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA),” SUA said in its press release. “While sugar is but one commodity traded between our two countries, these suspension agreements set a horrible precedent by undoing trade flows that have been established over two decades after NAFTA was first negotiated.”

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