Notice2023-28492
Agreement Suspending the Antidumping Duty Investigation on Sugar From Mexico: Preliminary Results of the 2021-2022 Administrative Review and Postponement of Final Results
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 respondents 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 terms of the Agreement Suspending the Antidumping Duty Investigation on Sugar from Mexico, as amended (AD Agreement) during the period of review (POR) from December 1, 2021, through November 30, 2022. Commerce also preliminarily determines that the AD 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 89367-89368]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2023-28492]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
International Trade Administration
[A-201-845]
Agreement Suspending the Antidumping Duty Investigation on Sugar
From Mexico: Preliminary Results of the 2021-2022 Administrative Review
and Postponement of Final Results
AGENCY: Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade Administration,
Department of Commerce.
SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of Commerce (Commerce) preliminarily
determines that the respondents 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 terms of the Agreement Suspending the
Antidumping Duty Investigation on Sugar from Mexico, as amended (AD
Agreement) during the period of review (POR) from December 1, 2021,
through November 30, 2022. Commerce also preliminarily determines that
the AD Agreement met the applicable statutory requirements during the
POR.
DATES: Applicable December 27, 2023.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jill Buckles or Walter Schaub,
Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade 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 Mexican producers/exporters accounting for
substantially all imports of sugar from Mexico signed the AD Agreement
under section 734(c) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (the Act),
which suspended the underlying antidumping duty investigation, on
December 19, 2014, and which was subsequently amended on January 15,
2020.\1\
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\1\ See Sugar from Mexico: Suspension of Antidumping
Investigation, 79 FR 78039 (December 29, 2014); see also 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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On December 20, 2022, the American Sugar Coalition and its members
(petitioners) \2\ filed a timely request for an administrative review
of the AD Agreement.\3\ On February 2, 2023, Commerce initiated an
administrative review for the period December 1, 2021, through November
30, 2022.
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\2\ The members of the American Sugar Coalition are as follows:
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.
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On March 31, 2023, Commerce selected two companies as mandatory
respondents, listed in alphabetical 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.
Scope of the AD Agreement
The product covered by this AD Agreement is raw and refined sugar
of all polarimeter readings derived from sugar cane or sugar beets.
Merchandise covered by this AD Agreement is typically imported under
the following headings 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.\4\ The tariff classification is provided for
convenience and customs purposes; however, the written description of
the scope of this AD Agreement is dispositive.\5\
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\4\ 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.
\5\ For a complete description of the Scope of the AD Agreement,
see Memorandum, ``Decision Memorandum for the Preliminary Results of
the 2021-2022 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 AD Agreement,
each signatory producer/exporter individually agrees that it will not
sell subject merchandise at prices less than the reference prices
established in Appendix I to the AD Agreement.\6\ Each signatory
producer/exporter also individually agrees that for each entry, the
amount by which the estimated normal value exceeds the export price (or
the constructed export price) will not exceed 15 percent of the
weighted average amount by which the estimated normal value exceeded
the export price (or constructed export price) for all less-than-fair-
value entries of the producer/exporter examined during the course of
the investigation.\7\ The signatory producers/exporters also
individually agree to provide documentation upon request from Commerce
\8\ and provide certifications each quarter \9\ to allow Commerce to
monitor the AD Agreement. In addition, the signatory producers/
exporters agree to incorporate into their sales contracts with
Intermediary Customers \10\ the obligation that such customers will
abide by the terms of the AD Agreement.\11\ Lastly, the signatory
producers/exporters agree to ensure that
[[Page 89368]]
Other Sugar \12\ is tested for polarity by a laboratory approved by CBP
upon entry into the United States and that the importers of record
report the polarity test results for each entry to Commerce within 30
days of entry.\13\
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\6\ See AD Agreement at Section VI and Appendix I.
\7\ Id. at Section VI.
\8\ Id. at Sections VII.B.1, VII.B.2, and VII.B.4.
\9\ Id. at Section VII.C.4.
\10\ ``Intermediary Customer'' is defined in Section II.N of the
AD Agreement.
\11\ See AD Agreement at Section VII.C.5.
\12\ ``Other Sugar'' is defined Section II.F of the AD
Agreement.
\13\ See AD Agreement at Section VII.C.6.
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After reviewing the information received from the respondent
companies in their questionnaire and supplemental questionnaire
responses, we preliminarily determine that the respondents adhered to
the terms of the AD Agreement during the POR and that the AD Agreement
is functioning as intended. Further, we preliminarily determine that
the AD Agreement continued to meet the statutory requirements under
sections 734(c) and (d) of the Act during the POR.
We were not able to complete our review of one respondent for one
aspect of the AD Agreement, the requirement in Section VI to eliminate
at least 85 percent of the dumping found in the investigation, and we
therefore intend to address this issue in a post-preliminary analysis.
We find that we require additional information in order to complete our
examination. Therefore, we will continue our examination after the
issuance of these preliminary results as to whether the respondents
complied with the requirement to eliminate at least 85 percent of the
dumping found in the investigation during the POR, and we intend to
issue a post-preliminary analysis addressing the issue as soon as
practicable.
For a full description of the methodology underlying our
conclusions, see the Preliminary Decision Memorandum. 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>. Commerce
also addresses certain issues, which require discussion of business
proprietary information, in separate memoranda which we incorporate
into the Preliminary Decision Memorandum.\14\
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\14\ See Preliminary Decision Memorandum at 6-8 and fn. 47 and
59.
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Public Comment
Commerce intends to issue a post-preliminary analysis memorandum
subsequent to the publication of this notice with respect to the
requirement to eliminate at least 85 percent of the dumping found in
the investigation. Thus, Commerce will announce the briefing schedule
to interested parties at a later date. Interested parties may submit
case briefs on the deadline that Commerce will announce. 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.\15\
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.\16\ 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.\17\ 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).\18\
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\15\ 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).
\16\ See 19 351.309(c)(2) and (d)(2).
\17\ We use the term ``issue'' here to describe an argument that
Commerce would normally address in a comment of the Issues and
Decision Memorandum.
\18\ See Administrative Protective Order, Service, and Other
Procedures in Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Proceedings; Final
Rule, 88 FR 67069 (September 29, 2023).
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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. 2023-28492 Filed 12-26-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P
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</html>Indexed from Federal Register on December 27, 2023.
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