Notice2023-28491
Agreement Suspending the Countervailing Duty Investigation on Sugar From Mexico; Preliminary Results of the 2022 Administrative Review
Primary source
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Published
December 27, 2023
Issuing agencies
Commerce DepartmentInternational Trade Administration
Abstract
The U.S. Department of Commerce (Commerce) preliminarily determines that the signatory, the Government of Mexico (GOM), and the respondent companies selected for individual examination, respectively, Compa[ntilde][iacute]a Industrial Azucarera S.A. de C.V. and its affiliates and Ingenio Presidente Benito Juarez S.A. de C.V., were in compliance with the Agreement Suspending the Countervailing Duty Investigation on Sugar from Mexico, as amended (CVD Agreement) during the period of review (POR). Commerce also preliminarily determines that the CVD Agreement met the applicable statutory requirements during the POR.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 88 Issue 247 (Wednesday, December 27, 2023)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 247 (Wednesday, December 27, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 89368-89370]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2023-28491]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
International Trade Administration
[C-201-846]
Agreement Suspending the Countervailing Duty Investigation on
Sugar From Mexico; Preliminary Results of the 2022 Administrative
Review
AGENCY: Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade Administration,
Department of Commerce.
SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of Commerce (Commerce) preliminarily
determines that the signatory, the Government of Mexico (GOM), and the
respondent companies selected for individual examination, respectively,
Compa[ntilde][iacute]a Industrial Azucarera S.A. de C.V. and its
affiliates and Ingenio Presidente Benito Juarez S.A. de C.V., were in
compliance with the Agreement Suspending the Countervailing Duty
Investigation on Sugar from Mexico, as amended (CVD Agreement) during
the period of review (POR). Commerce also preliminarily determines that
the CVD Agreement met the applicable statutory requirements during the
POR.
DATES: Applicable December 27, 2023.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jill Buckles or Walter Schaub,
Enforcement & Compliance, International Trade
[[Page 89369]]
Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue
NW, Washington, DC 20230, telephone: (202) 482-6230 or (202) 482-0907,
respectively.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
Commerce and the GOM signed the CVD Agreement under section 704(c)
of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (the Act), which suspended the
underlying countervailing duty investigation on sugar from Mexico, on
December 19, 2014, and which was subsequently amended on January 15,
2020.\1\
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\1\ See Agreement Suspending the Countervailing Duty
Investigation of Sugar from Mexico, 79 FR 78044 (December 29, 2014);
see also Sugar from Mexico: Amendment to the Agreement Suspending
the Countervailing Duty Investigation, 85 FR 3613 (January 22, 2020)
(collectively, CVD Agreement).
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On December 20, 2022, the American Sugar Coalition and its members
(the petitioners) \2\ filed a timely request for an administrative
review of the CVD Agreement.\3\ On February 2, 2023, Commerce initiated
an administrative review for the period January 1, 2022, through
December 31, 2022.\4\
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\2\ The members of the American Sugar Coalition are: American
Sugar Cane League; American Sugarbeet Growers Association; American
Sugar Refining, Inc.; Florida Sugar Cane League; Rio Grande Valley
Sugar Growers, Inc.; Sugar Cane Growers Cooperative of Florida; and
the United States Beet Sugar Association.
\3\ See Petitioners' Letter, ``Request for Administrative
Review,'' dated December 20, 2022.
\4\ See Initiation of Antidumping and Countervailing Duty
Administrative Reviews, 88 FR 7060 (February 2, 2023).
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On March 31, 2023, Commerce selected two companies as mandatory
respondents, listed in alphabetic order: Compa[ntilde][iacute]a
Industrial Azucarera S.A. de C.V. and its affiliates and Ingenio
Presidente Benito Juarez S.A. de C.V.\5\ In addition, the review
covered the GOM, which is the signatory to the CVD Agreement.
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\5\ See Memorandum, ``Respondent Selection,'' dated March 31,
2023.
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Scope of the CVD Agreement
The product covered by this CVD Agreement is raw and refined sugar
of all polarimeter readings derived from sugar cane or sugar beets.
Merchandise covered by this CVD Agreement is typically imported under
the following subheadings of the HTSUS: 1701.12.1000, 1701.12.5000,
1701.13.1000, 1701.13.5000, 1701.14.1020, 1701.14.1040, 1701.14.5000,
1701.91.1000, 1701.91.3000, 1701.99.1015, 1701.99.1017, 1701.99.1025,
1701.99.1050, 1701.99.5015, 1701.99.5017, 1701.99.5025, 1701.99.5050,
and 1702.90.4000.\6\ The tariff classification is provided for
convenience and customs purposes; however, the written description of
the scope of this CVD Agreement is dispositive.\7\
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\6\ Prior to July 1, 2016, merchandise covered by the AD
Agreement was also classified in the HTSUS under subheading
1701.99.1010. Prior to January 1, 2020, merchandise covered by the
AD Agreement was also classified in the HTSUS under subheadings
1701.14.1000 and 1701.99.5010.
\7\ For a complete description of the Scope of the CVD
Agreement, see Memorandum, ``Decision Memorandum for the Preliminary
Results of the 2022 Administrative Review: Sugar from Mexico,''
dated concurrently with, and hereby adopted by, this notice
(Preliminary Decision Memorandum).
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Methodology and Preliminary Results
Commerce has conducted this review in accordance with section
751(a)(1)(C) of the Act, which specifies that Commerce shall ``review
the current status of, and compliance with, any agreement by reason of
which an investigation was suspended.'' Pursuant to the CVD Agreement,
the GOM agrees that subject merchandise is subject to export limits.\8\
The GOM also agrees to other conditions including limits on exports of
Refined Sugar \9\ and restrictions on shipping patterns for
exports.\10\ The CVD Agreement also requires the GOM to issue contract-
specific export licenses,\11\ submit compliance monitoring reports to
Commerce,\12\ and institute penalties for non-compliance with certain
key terms of the CVD Agreement and the companion Agreement Suspending
the Antidumping Duty Investigation on Sugar from Mexico, as amended (AD
Agreement).\13\
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\8\ See CVD Agreement at Section V.
\9\ ``Refined Sugar'' is defined in Section II.L of the CVD
Agreement.
\10\ Id. at Section V.C.
\11\ Id. at Section VI and Appendix I.
\12\ Id. at Section VIII.B.1 and Appendix II.
\13\ Id. at Section VIII.B.4; see also See Sugar from Mexico:
Suspension of Antidumping Investigation, 79 FR 78039 (December 29,
2014); and Sugar from Mexico: Amendment to the Agreement Suspending
the Antidumping Duty Investigation, 85 FR 3620 (January 22, 2020)
(collectively, AD Agreement).
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After reviewing the information received from the GOM and
respondent companies in their questionnaire and supplemental
questionnaire responses, we preliminarily determine that the GOM and
respondent companies adhered to the terms of the CVD Agreement during
the POR and that the CVD Agreement is functioning as intended. Further,
we preliminarily determine that the CVD Agreement continued to meet the
statutory requirements under sections 704(c) and (d) of the Act during
the POR.
For a full description of the methodology underlying our
conclusions, see the Preliminary Decision Memorandum. A list of the
topics discussed in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum is included as
the appendix to this notice. The Preliminary Decision Memorandum is a
public document and is on file electronically via Enforcement and
Compliance's Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Centralized Electronic
Service System (ACCESS). ACCESS is available to registered users at
<a href="https://access.trade.gov">https://access.trade.gov</a>. In addition, a complete version of the
Preliminary Decision Memorandum can be accessed directly at <a href="https://access.trade.gov/public/FRNoticesListLayout.aspx">https://access.trade.gov/public/FRNoticesListLayout.aspx</a>.
Public Comment
Pursuant to 19 CFR 351.309(c), interested parties may submit case
briefs to Commerce no later than 30 days from the publication of these
preliminary results in the Federal Register. Rebuttal briefs, limited
to issues raised in the case briefs, may be filed not later than five
days after the date for filing case briefs.\14\ Interested parties who
submit case briefs or rebuttal briefs in this proceeding must submit:
(1) a table of contents listing each issue; and (2) a table of
authorities.\15\
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\14\ See 19 CFR 351.309(d); see also Administrative Protective
Order, Service, and Other Procedures in Antidumping and
Countervailing Duty Proceedings, 88 FR 67069, 67077 (September 29,
2023) (APO and Final Service Rule).
\15\ See 19 351.309(c)(2) and (d)(2).
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As provided under 19 CFR 351.309(c)(2) and (d)(2), in prior
proceedings we have encouraged interested parties to provide an
executive summary of their brief that should be limited to five pages
total, including footnotes. In this review, we instead request that
interested parties provide at the beginning of their briefs a public,
executive summary for each issue raised in their briefs.\16\ Further,
we request that interested parties limit their executive summary of
each issue to no more than 450 words, not including citations. We
intend to use the executive summaries as the basis of the comment
summaries included in the issues and decision memorandum that will
accompany the final results in this administrative review. We request
that interested parties include footnotes for relevant citations in the
executive summary of each issue. Note that Commerce has amended certain
of its requirements pertaining to the service of documents in 19 CFR
351.303(f).\17\
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\16\ We use the term ``issue'' here to describe an argument that
Commerce would normally address in a comment of the Issues and
Decision Memorandum.
\17\ See APO and Final Service Rule.
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[[Page 89370]]
Pursuant to 19 CFR 351.310(c), interested parties who wish to
request a hearing must submit a written request to the Assistant
Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance, filed electronically via
ACCESS. Requests should contain: (1) the party's name, address, and
telephone number; (2) the number of participants; and (3) a list of
issues to be discussed. Issues raised in the hearing will be limited to
those raised in the respective case briefs. An electronically filed
hearing request must be received successfully in its entirety by
Commerce's electronic records system, ACCESS, by 5 p.m. Eastern Time
within 30 days after the date of publication of this notice.
Commerce intends to issue the final results of this administrative
review, including the results of its analysis of the issues raised in
any written briefs, not later than 120 days after the date of
publication of this notice, pursuant to section 751(a)(3)(A) of the
Act, unless extended.
Notification to Interested Parties
We are issuing and publishing these results in accordance with
sections 751(a)(1) and 777(i)(1) of the Act.
Dated: December 20, 2023.
James Maeder,
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Antidumping and Countervailing Duty
Operations.
Appendix--List of Topics Discussed in the Preliminary Decision
Memorandum
I. Summary
II. Background
III. Scope of the Agreement
IV. Preliminary Results of Review
V. Recommendation
[FR Doc. 2023-28491 Filed 12-26-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P
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