[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 184 (Wednesday, September 23, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 57337-57339]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-24195]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[C-201-846]


Sugar From Mexico: Final Affirmative Countervailing Duty 
Determination

AGENCY: Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade Administration, 
Department of Commerce.
SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce (the Department) determines that 
countervailable subsidies are being provided to exporters and producers 
of sugar from Mexico. For information on the estimated subsidy rates, 
see the ``Final Determination'' section of this notice.

DATES: Effective date: September 23, 2015.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kaitlin Wojnar, 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.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    The petitioner in this investigation is the American Sugar 
Coalition and its members (Petitioners).\1\ In addition to the 
Government of Mexico (GOM), the mandatory respondents in this 
investigation are Fondo de Empresas Expropiadas del Sector Azucarero 
(FEESA) and Ingenio Tala S.A. de C.V. and certain affiliated companies 
owned by Grupo Azucarero Mexico S.A. de C.V. (collectively, the GAM 
Group). The period of investigation (POI) is January 1, 2013, through 
December 31, 2013.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \1\ The American Sugar Coalition is comprised of the following 
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.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The Department published its affirmative Preliminary Determination 
on September 2, 2014.\2\ On December

[[Page 57338]]

19, 2014, the Department and a representative of the GOM signed an 
agreement suspending this CVD investigation.\3\ Pursuant to timely 
requests for continuation filed on January 16, 2015,\4\ the Department 
published notice of continuation of the investigation on May 4, 
2015.\5\ Subsequently, on June 18, 2015, the Department issued a post-
preliminary analysis memorandum.\6\ A complete summary of the events 
that occurred since publication of the Preliminary Determination, as 
well as a full discussion of the issues raised by parties for this 
final determination, may be found in the ``Issues and Decision 
Memorandum for the Final Affirmative Determination in the 
Countervailing Duty Investigation of Sugar from Mexico'' (Issues and 
Decision Memorandum),\7\ which is dated concurrently with and hereby 
adopted by this notice. The Issues and Decision Memorandum is a public 
document and is available electronically via Enforcement and 
Compliance's Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Centralized Electronic 
Service System (ACCESS). Access is available to registered users at 
http://access.trade.gov and to all parties in the Central Records Unit, 
room B8024 of the Department's main building. In addition, a complete 
version of the Issues and Decision Memorandum can be accessed at http://enforcement.trade.gov/frn/. The signed Issues and Decision Memorandum 
and the electronic version are identical in content.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \2\ See Sugar from Mexico: Preliminary Affirmative 
Countervailing Duty Determination and Alignment of Final 
Countervailing Duty Determination with Final Antidumping Duty 
Determination, 79 FR 51956 (September 2, 2014) (Preliminary 
Determination).
    \3\ See Sugar from Mexico: Suspension of Countervailing Duty 
Investigation, 79 FR 78044 (December 29, 2014) (Suspension 
Agreement).
    \4\ See Letter from Imperial Sugar Company, ``Sugar from Mexico, 
Inv. Nos. A-201-845 and C-201-846--Request for Continuation of 
Investigations,'' January 16, 2015; see also Letter from AmCane 
Sugar LLC, ``Sugar from Mexico: Request for Continuation of 
Investigations,'' January 16, 2015.
    \5\ See Department Memorandum, ``Standing of Imperial Sugar and 
AmCane Sugar to Request Continuation of the AD and CVD 
Investigations on Sugar from Mexico,'' dated April 24, 2015; see 
also Sugar from Mexico: Continuation of Antidumping and 
Countervailing Duty Investigations, 80 FR 25278 (May 4, 2015).
    \6\ See Department Memorandum, ``Countervailing Duty 
Investigation of Sugar from Mexico: Post-Preliminary Analysis,'' 
June 18, 2015.
    \7\ See Department Memorandum, ``Issues and Decision Memorandum 
for the Final Affirmative Determination in the Countervailing Duty 
Investigation of Sugar from Mexico,'' September 16, 2015.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Scope of the Investigation

    The product covered by this investigation is sugar from Mexico. 
Since the Preliminary Determination, the Department has updated the 
scope of the investigation. For a discussion of these changes, see the 
``Scope Comments'' section of the Issues and Decision Memorandum and, 
for a complete description of the scope, see Appendix I to this notice.

Analysis of Subsidy Programs and Comments Received

    The subsidy programs under investigation and the issues raised in 
the case briefs and rebuttal briefs submitted by interested parties in 
this proceeding are discussed in the Issues and Decision Memorandum. A 
list of the issues raised by parties and responded to by the Department 
in the Issues and Decision Memorandum is attached at Appendix II to 
this notice.

Changes to the Preliminary Determination

    Based on our analysis of the comments received and our findings at 
verification, we made certain changes to the respondents' subsidy rate 
calculations since the Preliminary Determination and our post-
preliminary analysis. These changes are discussed in the ``Analysis of 
Programs'' section of the Issues and Decision Memorandum. As discussed 
in the Issues and Decision Memorandum, for purposes of this final 
determination, the Department relied, in part, on facts available when 
necessary information was not available on the record.\8\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \8\ See section 776(a) of the Act.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Final Determination

    In accordance with 705(c)(1)(B)(i)(1) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as 
amended (the Act), the Department calculated a countervailable subsidy 
rate for each individually investigated exporter/producer of the 
subject merchandise. Consistent with sections 705(c)(1)(B)(i)(I) and 
705(c)(5)(A) of the Act, the Department also calculated an estimated 
``all others'' rate for exporters and producers not individually 
investigated. Section 705(c)(5)(A)(i) of the Act provides that the 
``all others'' rate will be equal to the weighted-average of the 
countervailable subsidy rates, excluding de minimis rates and rates 
determined entirely under section 776 of the Act, established for 
individually investigated exporters and producers. Because the 
weighted-average countervailable subsidy rates calculated for FEESA and 
the GAM Group are not de minimis and are not based entirely on section 
776 of the Act as facts available, the Department has estimated the 
``all others'' rate in this final determination by weight-averaging the 
weighted-average countervailable subsidy rates calculated for FEESA and 
the GAM Group.
    We determine the total estimated countervailable subsidy rates to 
be:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
               Company                            Subsidy rate
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fondo de Empresas Expropiadas del      43.93 percent.
 Sector Azucarero.
Ingenio Tala S.A. de C.V. and certain  5.78 percent.
 affiliated sugar mills of Grupo
 Azucarero Mexico S.A. de C.V..
All Others...........................  38.11 percent.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    In accordance with 19 CFR 351.224(b), we will disclose the 
calculations performed within five days of any public announcement of 
this notice.
    As noted above, the Department signed a Suspension Agreement in 
this investigation on December 19, 2014. On March 27, 2015, following a 
review of the Suspension Agreement by the International Trade 
Commission (ITC), the Department, in accordance with sections 
704(h)(3)(A) and (B) of the Act, instructed Customs and Border 
Protection (CBP) to terminate the suspension of liquidation of all 
entries of sugar from Mexico and to refund any collected cash deposits 
without regard to countervailing duties.\9\ Notwithstanding the 
continuation and completion of the investigation, as the Suspension 
Agreement continues to be in place, the Department will not instruct 
CBP to suspend liquidation or to assess cash deposits at the 
countervailing duty rates noted above unless the Suspension Agreement 
is terminated.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \9\ See Department Memorandum, ``Termination of Suspension of 
Liquidation: Suspended Countervailing Duty Investigation on Sugar 
from Mexico,'' March 27, 2015.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

[[Page 57339]]

ITC Notification

    In accordance with 705(d) of the Act, we will notify the ITC of our 
final determination. Because our final determination is affirmative, 
the ITC will, within 45 days, determine whether these imports are 
materially injuring, or threatening material injury to, the U.S. 
industry. If the ITC determines that material injury, or threat of 
material injury does not exist, the Suspension Agreement shall have no 
force or effect, and the investigation shall be terminated.\10\ If the 
ITC determines that such injury does exist, the Suspension Agreement 
shall remain in force but the Department shall not issue a CVD order so 
long as (1) the Suspension Agreement remains in force, (2) the 
Suspension Agreement continues to meet the requirements of subsections 
(c) and (d) of the Act, and (3) the parties to the Suspension Agreement 
carry out their obligations under the Suspension Agreement in 
accordance with its terms.\11\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \10\ See section 704(f)(3)(A) of the Act.
    \11\ See section 704(f)(3)(B) of the Act.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Return or Destruction of Proprietary Information

    This notice serves as the only reminder to parties subject to 
administrative protective order (APO) of their responsibility 
concerning the destruction of proprietary information disclosed under 
APO in accordance with 19 CFR 351.305(a)(3). Timely written 
notification of return/destruction of APO materials or conversion to 
judicial protective order is hereby requested. Failure to comply with 
the regulations and the terms of an APO is a violation subject to 
sanction.
    This determination is issued and published in accordance with 
sections 705(d) and 777(i) of the Act.

    Dated: September 16, 2015.
Ronald K. Lorentzen,
Acting Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance.

Appendix I

Scope of the Investigation

    The product covered by this investigation is raw and refined 
sugar of all polarimeter readings derived from sugar cane or sugar 
beets. The chemical sucrose gives sugar its essential character. 
Sucrose is a nonreducing disaccharide composed of glucose and 
fructose linked by a glycosidic bond via their anomeric carbons. The 
molecular formula for sucrose is 
C12H22O11; the International Union 
of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) International Chemical 
Identifier (InChI) for sucrose is 1S/C12H22O11/c13-1-4-
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 InChI 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 described in the previous paragraph includes products of 
all polarimeter readings described in various forms, such as raw 
sugar, estandar or standard sugar, high polarity or semi-refined 
sugar, special white sugar, refined sugar, brown sugar, edible 
molasses, desugaring molasses, organic raw sugar, and organic 
refined sugar. Other sugar products, such as powdered sugar, colored 
sugar, flavored sugar, and liquids and syrups that contain 95 
percent or more sugar by dry weight are also within the scope of 
this investigation.
    The scope of the investigation does not include (1) sugar 
imported under the Refined Sugar Re-Export Programs of the U.S. 
Department of Agriculture; \1\ (2) sugar products produced in Mexico 
that contain 95 percent or more sugar by dry weight that originated 
outside of Mexico; (3) inedible molasses (other than inedible 
desugaring molasses noted above); (4) beverages; (5) candy; (6) 
certain specialty sugars; and (7) processed food products that 
contain sugar (e.g., cereals). Specialty sugars excluded from the 
scope of this investigation are limited to the following: 
caramelized slab sugar candy, pearl sugar, rock candy, dragees for 
cooking and baking, fondant, golden syrup, and sugar decorations.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \1\ This exclusion applies to sugar imported under the Refined 
Sugar Re-Export Program, the Sugar-Containing Products Re-Export 
Program, and the Polyhydric Alcohol Program administered by the U.S. 
Department of Agriculture.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Merchandise covered by this investigation is typically imported 
under the following headings of the 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, 1701.99.1010, 
1701.99.1025, 1701.99.1050, 1701.99.5010, 1701.99.5025, 
1701.99.5050, 1702.90.4000 and 1703.10.3000. 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 Issues and Decision Memorandum

I. Summary
II. Background
III. Scope Comments
IV. Scope of the Investigation
V. Subsidies Valuation
VI. Analysis of Programs
VII. Discussion of the Issues
    Issue 1: Standing to Request Continuation of the Investigation
    Issue 2: Uncreditworthiness
    Issue 3: Calculation of Discount Rates
    Issue 4: Treatment of Grants as Non-Recurring Subsidies
    Issue 5: Sugarcane for Less Than Adequate Remuneration (LTAR)
    Issue 6: Forgiveness of Tax Liability Under the ``Catch Up'' Tax 
Amnesty Program
    Issue 7: Countervailability of 1998/1999 Restructuring of 
Financiera Nacional Azucarera, S.N.C. (FINA) Debt
    Issue 8: Amount of Benefits Received From the 1999 Inventory 
Support Subsidy
    Issue 9: Selection of FEESA as a Mandatory Respondent
    Issue 10: Forgiveness of FEESA's Government Debts
    Issue 11: Forgiveness of Wastewater Discharge Debt
    Issue 12: FEESA's Interest-Free Social Security Debt
    Issue 13: Preferential Lending to FEESA
    Issue 14: Provision of General Services for LTAR
    Issue 15: Sales Denominator Adjustments
    Issue 16: Forgiveness of the GAM Group's Government Debts
    Issue 17: Accelerated Depreciation of Renewable Energy 
Investments
    Issue 18: Repayment of Special Fund and Annual Budget 
Allocations
    Issue 19: Amount of Benefits Received from the 1997 Export 
Subsidy
VIII. Conclusion

[FR Doc. 2015-24195 Filed 9-22-15; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P