[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 244 (Thursday, December 20, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 65343-65344]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-27535]



[[Page 65343]]

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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[A-201-845]


Agreement Suspending the Antidumping Duty Investigation on Sugar 
From Mexico (as Amended); Preliminary Results of 2017 Administrative 
Review

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

DATES: Applicable December 20, 2018.

SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce (Commerce) preliminarily determines 
that the respondents selected for individual examination, Ingenio El 
Higo S.A. de C.V., Ingenio Melchor Ocampo S.A. de C.V., and Zucarmex 
S.A. de C.V. (and its affiliates) (collectively, Grupo Zucarmex), and 
Ingenio San Miguel Del Naranjo S.A. de C.V (and its affiliates) 
(collectively, Grupo Beta San Miguel), are in compliance with the 
Agreement Suspending the Antidumping Duty Investigation on Sugar from 
Mexico (AD Agreement), as amended on June 30, 2017 (collectively, 
amended AD Agreement), for the period October 1, 2017, through November 
30, 2017, and that the amended AD Agreement is meeting the statutory 
requirements under sections 734(c) and (d) of the Tariff Act of 1930, 
as amended. Interested parties are invited to comment on these 
preliminary results.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Sally C. Gannon or David Cordell, 
Enforcement & Compliance, International Trade Administration, U.S. 
Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, DC 
20230, telephone: (202) 482-0162 or (202) 482-0408, respectively.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    On December 19, 2014, Commerce signed an agreement under section 
734(c) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (the Act), with a 
representative of Mexican sugar producers/exporters accounting for 
substantially all imports of sugar from Mexico, suspending the 
antidumping duty (AD) investigation on sugar from Mexico.\1\ On June 
30, 2017, Commerce and a representative of Mexican sugar producers/
exporters representing substantially all imports of sugar from Mexico 
signed an amendment to the AD Agreement.\2\
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    \1\ See Sugar from Mexico: Suspension of Antidumping Duty 
Investigation, 79 FR 78039 (December 29, 2014).
    \2\ See Sugar from Mexico: Amendment to the Agreement Suspending 
the Antidumping Duty Investigation, 82 FR 31945 (July 11, 2017).
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    On December 29, 2017, the American Sugar Coalition and its Members 
\3\ (petitioners) filed a request for an administrative review of the 
amended AD Agreement.\4\ This review was initiated on February 23, 
2018, for the December 1, 2016, through November 30, 2017,\5\ period of 
review (POR), but Commerce amended the POR on April 19, 2018, to 
reflect the period from October 1, 2017 to November 30, 2017 (including 
sales prior to October 1, 2017 that resulted in such entries).\6\ On 
May 23, 2018, Commerce selected mandatory respondents and issued its 
questionnaire to the four largest respondents in alphabetical order: 
Ingenio El Higo S.A. de C.V., Ingenio Melchor Ocampo S.A. de C.V, 
Ingenio San Miguel Del Naranjo S.A. de C.V, and Zucarmex S.A. de 
C.V.\7\
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    \3\ 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.
    \4\ See Letter from petitioners, entitled ``Sugar from Mexico: 
Request for Administrative Review'' (December 29, 2017).
    \5\ See Initiation of Antidumping and Countervailing Duty 
Administrative Reviews, 83 FR 8067 (February 23, 2018).
    \6\ See Memorandum to P. Lee Smith, entitled ``Administrative 
Review of the Agreement Suspending the Antidumping Duty 
Investigation on Sugar from Mexico, as Amended: Period of Review'' 
(April 19, 2018).
    \7\ See Memorandum to P. Lee Smith, entitled ``2017 
Administrative Review of the Agreement Suspending the Antidumping 
Duty Investigation on Sugar from Mexico As Amended: Respondent 
Selection'' and ``Questionnaire Regarding the Agreement Suspending 
the Antidumping Duty Investigation on Sugar from Mexico for the 
October 1, 2017 through November 30, 2017 Period of Review,'' both 
dated May 23, 2018.
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Scope of Review

    Merchandise covered by this amended AD Agreement is typically 
imported under the following headings of the HTSUS: 1701.12.1000, 
1701.12.5000, 1701.13.1000, 1701.13.5000, 1701.14.1000, 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, and 1702.90.4000. The tariff 
classification is provided for convenience and customs purposes; 
however, the written description of the scope of this amended AD 
Agreement is dispositive.\8\
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    \8\ For a complete description of the Scope of the Order, see 
Memorandum to Gary Taverman, Deputy Assistant Secretary for 
Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Operations, performing the non-
exclusive functions and duties of the Assistant Secretary for 
Enforcement and Compliance, from P. Lee Smith, Deputy Assistant 
Secretary for Policy and Negotiations, ``Decision Memorandum for 
Preliminary Results of Administrative Review of the Agreement 
Suspending the Antidumping Duty Investigation on Sugar from 
Mexico,'' dated concurrently with, and hereby adopted by, this 
notice (Preliminary Decision Memorandum).
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Methodology and Preliminary Results

    Commerce is conducting 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.'' In this case, Commerce and a 
representative of the Mexican sugar producers/exporters accounting for 
substantially all imports of sugar from Mexico signed the AD Agreement, 
which suspended the underlying antidumping duty investigation, on 
December 19, 2014. Further, on June 30, 2017, Commerce and a 
representative of the Mexican sugar producers/exporters accounting for 
substantially all imports of sugar from Mexico signed an amendment to 
the AD Agreement. Pursuant to the amended AD Agreement, the Mexican 
signatories agreed that the subject merchandise would be subject to 
minimum reference prices and that at least 85 percent of the dumping 
from the original investigation would be eliminated, as outlined in the 
amended AD Agreement.\9\ The Mexican signatories also agreed to other 
conditions, including the reporting of the polarity testing of Other 
Sugar \10\ and enhanced monitoring.\11\
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    \9\ See AD Agreement, 79 FR 78041, 78042, and 78044, at Price 
Undertaking. See also AD Amendment, 82 FR 31945, 31946.
    \10\ See AD Agreement, 79 FR 78040, 78046-78047 at Definitions 
and Export Limits. See also AD Amendment, 82 FR 3193, 31944.
    \11\ See AD Agreement, 79 FR 78040, 78048 at Export Limits and 
Implementation. See also AD Amendment, 82 FR 31944.
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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 have adhered 
to the terms of the amended AD Agreement and that the amended AD 
Agreement is functioning as intended. Further, we preliminarily 
determine that the amended AD Agreement is meeting the statutory 
requirements under sections 734(c) and (d) of the Act. For a full 
description of the methodology underlying our conclusions, see the 
Preliminary Decision Memorandum. Commerce notes that it is addressing 
one issue related to Grupo Zucarmex,

[[Page 65344]]

which involves discussion of business proprietary information, in a 
separate memorandum.\12\
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    \12\ See Memorandum to Gary Taverman, Deputy Assistant Secretary 
for Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Operations, performing the 
non-exclusive functions and duties of the Assistant Secretary for 
Enforcement and Compliance, from P. Lee Smith, Deputy Assistant 
Secretary for Policy and Negotiations, ``Memorandum with Respect to 
Sales Observations reported by Grupo Zucarmex'' (Zucarmex 
Memorandum) dated December 14, 2018.
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Public Comment

    Pursuant to 19 CFR 351.309(c)(1)(ii), interested parties may submit 
case briefs not later than 30 days after the date of publication of 
this notice. 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 in accordance with 19 CFR 351.309(d)(1). Parties who submit 
case briefs or rebuttal briefs in this proceeding are encouraged to 
provide: (1) A statement of the issue; (2) a brief summary of the 
argument; and (3) a table of authorities.\13\
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    \13\ See 19 CFR 351.309(c)(2) and (d)(2).
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    Pursuant to 19 CFR 351.310(c), interested parties who wish to 
request a hearing, or to participate if one is requested, must submit a 
written request filed electronically via ACCESS. An electronically 
filed document must be received successfully in its entirety by 
Commerce's electronic records system ACCESS, by 5:00 p.m. Eastern 
Standard Time within 30 days after the date of publication of this 
notice. 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. 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.
    We are issuing and publishing these results in accordance with 
sections 751(a)(1) and 777(i)(1) of the Act.

    Dated: December 14, 2018.
Gary Taverman,
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Antidumping and Countervailing Duty 
Operations, performing the non-exclusive functions and duties of the 
Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance.
[FR Doc. 2018-27535 Filed 12-19-18; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P