[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 169 (Tuesday, September 2, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 51956-51958]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-20834]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[C-201-846]


Sugar From Mexico: Preliminary Affirmative Countervailing 
Determination and Alignment of Final Countervailing Duty Determination 
With Final Antidumping Duty Determination

AGENCY: Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade Administration, 
Department of Commerce.

SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce (the Department) preliminarily 
determines that countervailable subsidies are being provided to 
producers and exporters of sugar from Mexico. The period of 
investigation is January 1, 2013, through December 31, 2013. Interested 
parties are invited to comment on this preliminary determination.

DATES:  Effective Date: September 2, 2014.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kaitlin Wojnar or Nicholas Czajkowski,

[[Page 51957]]

AD/CVD Operations, Office VII, Enforcement and Compliance, 
International Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 14th 
Street and Constitution Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20230; telephone: 
(202) 482-3857 or (202) 482-1395, respectively.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Alignment of Final Countervailing Duty Determination With Final 
Antidumping Duty Determination

    On the same day that the Department initiated this countervailing 
duty (CVD) investigation, the Department also initiated an antidumping 
duty (AD) investigation of sugar from Mexico.\1\ The AD and CVD 
investigations cover the same class or kind of merchandise from the 
same country. On August 21, 2014, in accordance with section 705(a)(1) 
of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (the Act) and 19 CFR 
351.210(b)(4), Petitioners requested alignment of the final CVD 
determination with the final AD determination of sugar from Mexico.\2\ 
Therefore, in accordance with section 705(a)(1) of the Act and 19 CFR 
351.210(b)(4), we are aligning the final CVD determination in this 
investigation with the final determination in the companion AD 
investigation of sugar from Mexico. Consequently, the final CVD 
determination will be issued on the same date as the final AD 
determination, which is currently scheduled to be issued no later than 
January 7, 2015.
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    \1\ See Sugar From Mexico: Initiation of Countervailing Duty 
Investigation, 79 FR 22790 (April 24, 2014); see also Sugar From 
Mexico: Initiation of Antidumping Duty Investigation, 79 FR 22795 
(April 24, 2014).
    \2\ Petitioners are the American Sugar Coalition and its 
individual members: American Sugar Cane League, American Sugar 
Refining, Inc., American Sugarbeet Growers Association, Florida 
Sugar Cane League, Hawaiian Commercial and Sugar Company, Rio Grande 
Valley Sugar Growers, Inc., Sugar Cane Growers Cooperative of 
Florida, and United States Beet Sugar Association.
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Scope of the Investigation

    The product covered by this investigation is sugar from Mexico. For 
a full description of the scope of the investigation, see Appendix I to 
this notice.\3\
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    \3\ Interested parties filed comments and a clarification 
request regarding the scope of the investigation. However, due to 
the limited timeframe for considering these submissions, the 
Department intends to address the specific scope comments and 
clarification request in the preliminary determination of the 
companion AD investigation. Any modifications to the scope or scope 
exclusions that may be made in the AD preliminary determination will 
be placed on the record of this CVD investigation and parties will 
be afforded an opportunity to submit comments.
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Methodology

    The Department is conducting this CVD investigation in accordance 
with section 701 of the Act. For a full description of the methodology 
underlying our preliminary conclusions, see the Preliminary Decision 
Memorandum.\4\ 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 (IA ACCESS). IA ACCESS is available to registered users at 
http://iaaccess.trade.gov, and is available to all parties in the 
Central Records Unit, Room 7046 of the main Department of Commerce 
building. In addition, a complete version of the Preliminary Decision 
Memorandum can be accessed directly on the Internet at http://enforcement.trade.gov/frn/index.html. The signed Preliminary Decision 
Memorandum and the electronic versions of the Preliminary Decision 
Memorandum are identical in content. A list of topics discussed in the 
Preliminary Decision Memorandum can be found in Appendix II to this 
notice.
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    \4\ See Memorandum from Gary Taverman, Senior Advisor for 
Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Operations, to Paul Piquado, 
Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance, ``Decision 
Memorandum for the Preliminary Determination in the Countervailing 
Duty Investigation of Sugar from Mexico,'' dated concurrently with 
and hereby adopted by this notice (Preliminary Decision Memorandum).
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Preliminary Determination and Suspension of Liquidation

    In accordance with section 703(d)(1)(A)(i) of the Act, we 
calculated a CVD rate for the following individually-investigated 
producer/exporters of the subject merchandise: (1) Fondo de Empresas 
Expropiadas del Sector Azucarero (FEESA); \5\ and (2) Ingenio Tala S.A. 
de C.V. and certain other cross-owned companies of Grupo Azucarero 
Mexico S.A. de C.V. (collectively, the GAM Group).\6\ We also 
calculated an all-others rate. Sections 703(d) and 705(c)(5)(A) of the 
Act state that for companies not individually investigated, we apply an 
all-others rate calculated by weighting the subsidy rates of each of 
the exporters and producers individually-investigated by those 
exporters' and producers' exports of subject merchandise to the United 
States.
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    \5\ FEESA consists of the following sugar mills: Fideicomiso 
Ingenio El Modelo, Fideicomiso Ingenio San Cristobal, Fideicomiso 
Ingenio Plan De San Luis, Fideicomiso Ingenio San Miguelito, 
Fideicomiso Ingenio La Providencia, Fideicomiso Ingenio Atencingo, 
Fideicomiso Ingenio Casasano, Fideicomiso Ingenio El Potrero, and 
Fideicomiso Ingenio Emiliano Zapata. See Preliminary Decision 
Memorandum.
    \6\ The GAM Group consists of the following entities: Ingenio 
Tala S.A. de C.V.; Ingenio El Dorado S.A. de C.V.; Ingenio Lazaro 
Cardenas S.A. de C.V.; Organizacion Cultiba, S.A.B. de C.V.; Grupo 
Azucarero Mexico S.A. de C.V.; ITLC Agricola Central S.A. de C.V.; 
Tala Electric S.A. de C.V.; Empresas y Servicios Organizados S.A. de 
C.V.; and Proveedora de Alimentors Mexico, S.A. de C.V. See 
Preliminary Decision Memorandum.
    \7\ Supra note 5.
    \8\ Supra note 6.
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    We preliminarily determine the countervailable subsidy rates as 
follows:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                           Subsidy rate
                    Producer/exporter                        (percent)
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FEESA \7\...............................................           17.01
Ingenio Tala S.A. de C.V. and certain cross-owned                   2.99
 companies of Grupo Azucarero Mexico S.A. de C.V.
 (collectively, the GAM Group) \8\......................
All-Others..............................................           14.87
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    In accordance with sections 703(d)(1)(B) and (d)(2) of the Act, we 
are directing U.S. Customs and Border Protection to suspend liquidation 
of all entries of sugar from Mexico that are entered, or withdrawn from 
warehouse, for consumption on or after the date of the publication of 
this notice in the Federal Register, and to require a cash deposit for 
such entries of merchandise in the amounts indicated above.

Verification

    As provided in section 782(i)(1) of the Act, we intend to verify 
the information submitted by FEESA, the GAM Group, and the Government 
of Mexico prior to making our final determination in this 
investigation.

Disclosure and Public Comment

    The Department intends to disclose to interested parties the 
calculations performed in connection with this

[[Page 51958]]

preliminary determination within five days of its public 
announcement.\9\ Interested parties may submit case and rebuttal 
briefs, as well as request a hearing.\10\ For a schedule of the 
deadlines for filing case briefs, rebuttal briefs, and hearing 
requests, see the Preliminary Decision Memorandum.
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    \9\ See 19 CFR 351.224(b).
    \10\ See 19 CFR351.309(c)-(d), 19 CFR 351.310(c); see also 19 
CFR 351.303 (for general filing requirements).
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International Trade Commission Notification

    In accordance with section 703(f) of the Act, we will notify the 
U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) of our determination. In 
addition, we are making all non-privileged and non-proprietary 
information relating to this investigation available to the ITC. We 
will allow the ITC access to all privileged and business proprietary 
information in our files, provided that the ITC confirms that it will 
not disclose such information, either publicly or under an 
administrative protective order, without the written consent of the 
Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance.
    In accordance with section 705(b)(2) of the Act, if our final 
determination is affirmative, the ITC will make its final determination 
no more than 45 days after the Department makes its final 
determination.
    This determination is issued and published pursuant to sections 
703(f) and 777(i) of the Act.

     Dated: August 25, 2014.
Paul Piquado,
Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance.

Appendix I

Scope of the Investigation

    The product covered by this investigation is sugar derived from 
sugar cane or sugar beets. Sucrose gives sugar its essential 
character. Sucrose is a nonreducing disaccharide composed of glucose 
and fructose linked via their anomeric carbons. The molecular 
formula for sucrose is C12H22O11, 
the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) 
International Chemical Identifier (InChl) for sucrose is 1S/
C12H22O11/c13-l-4-6(16)8(18)9(19)11(21-4)23-12(3-15)10(20)7(17)5(2-
14)22-12/h4-11,13-20H,1-3H2/t4-,5-,6-,7-,8+,9-,10+,11-,12+/m1/s1, 
the InChl Key for sucrose is CZMRCDWAGMRECN-UGDNZRGBSA-N, the U.S. 
National Institutes of Health PubChem Compound Identifier (CID) for 
sucrose is 5988, and the Chemical Abstracts Service (CAS) Number of 
sucrose is 57-50-1.
    Sugar within the scope of this investigation includes raw sugar 
(sugar with a sucrose content by weight in a dry state that 
corresponds to a polarimeter reading of less than 99.5 degrees) and 
estandar or standard sugar which is sometimes referred to as ``high 
polarity'' or ``semi-refined'' sugar (sugar with a sucrose content 
by weight in a dry state that corresponds to a polarimeter reading 
of 99.2 to 99.6 degrees). Sugar within the scope of this 
investigation includes refined sugar with a sucrose content by 
weight in a dry state that corresponds to a polarimeter reading of 
at least 99.9 degrees. Sugar within the scope of this investigation 
includes brown sugar, liquid sugar (sugar dissolved in water), 
organic raw sugar and organic refined sugar.
    Inedible molasses is not within the scope of this investigation. 
Specialty sugars, e.g., rock candy, fondant, sugar decorations, are 
not within the scope of this investigation. Processed food products 
that contain sugar, e.g., beverages, candy, cereals, are not within 
the scope of this investigation.
    Merchandise covered by this investigation is typically imported 
under the following headings of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of 
the United States (HTSUS): 1701.12.1000, 1701.12.5000, 1701.13.1000, 
1701.13.5000, 1701.14.1000, 1701.14.5000, 1701.91.1000, 
1701.91.3000, 1701.99.1025, 1701.99.1050, 1701.99.5025, 
1701.99.5050, and 1702.90.4000. The tariff classification is 
provided for convenience and customs purposes; however, the written 
description of the scope of this investigation is dispositive.

Appendix II

List of Topics Discussed in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum

I. Summary
II. Background
III. Alignment
IV. Scope Comments
V. Scope of the Investigation
VI. Respondent Selection
VII. Injury Test
VIII. Subsidies Valuation
IX. Creditworthiness
X. Analysis of Programs
XI. ITC Notification
XII. Disclosure and Public Comment
XIII. Verification
XIV. Conclusion

[FR Doc. 2014-20834 Filed 8-29-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P