[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 25 (Thursday, February 6, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 6894-6896]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-02364]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[A-201-845]


Suspension Agreement on Sugar From Mexico; 2018 Administrative 
Review of the Agreement Suspending the Antidumping Duty Investigation 
on Sugar From Mexico (as Amended)

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

SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce (Commerce) preliminarily determines 
that the selected respondents Ingenio Adolfo Lopez Mateos S.A. de C.V. 
and its affiliates (Grupo PIASA) and Ingenio P[aacute]nuco S.A.P.I. de 
C.V. (P[aacute]nuco), 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 January 1, 2018 through December 31, 2018, when such amended 
AD Agreement was in effect. Further, Commerce preliminarily determines 
that the amended AD Agreement in effect during the POR was meeting its 
statutory requirements under sections 734(c) and (d) of the Tariff Act 
of 1930, as amended (the Act). The preliminary results are set forth in 
the section titled ``Methodology and Preliminary Results,'' infra. We 
intend to issue the final results of review within 120 days after 
publication of these preliminary results in the Federal Register.

DATES: Applicable January 31, 2020.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Sally C. Gannon or David Cordell, 
Bilateral Agreements Unit, 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 Act, with a representative of Mexican 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 
producers/exporters

[[Page 6895]]

accounting for substantially all imports of sugar from Mexico signed an 
amendment to the AD Agreement.\2\ Consistent with a ruling from the 
U.S. Court of International Trade, Commerce published in the Federal 
Register a notice of the termination of the 2017 AD Amendment, with an 
applicable date of December 7, 2019.\3\
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    \1\ See Agreement Suspending the Antidumping Duty Investigation 
of Sugar from Mexico, 79 FR 78039 (December 29, 2014) (AD 
Agreement).
    \2\ See Sugar From Mexico: Amendment to the Agreement Suspending 
the Antidumping Duty Investigation, 82 FR 31945 (July 11, 2017) (AD 
Amendment).
    \3\ See Sugar From Mexico: Notice of Termination of Amendment to 
the Agreement Suspending the Antidumping Duty Investigation, 84 FR 
67711 (December 11, 2019).
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    On December 26, 2018, the American Sugar Coalition and its Members 
\4\ (petitioners) filed a timely request for an administrative review 
of the amended AD Agreement.\5\ On January 28, 2019, Commerce exercised 
its discretion to toll all deadlines affected by the partial federal 
government closure from December 22, 2018 through the resumption of 
operations on January 29, 2019.\6\ On February 12, 2019, the 
petitioners resubmitted their request for an administrative review of 
the amended AD Agreement as a precaution because the initial request 
was made during the partial federal government closure.\7\
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    \4\ 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.
    \5\ See Letter to Wilbur L. Ross, Jr., Secretary of Commerce, 
from the American Sugar Coalition and its members, ``Sugar from 
Mexico: Request for Administrative Review'' (December 26, 2018).
    \6\ See Memorandum to the Record, ``Deadlines Affected by the 
Partial Shutdown of the Federal Government'' (January 28, 2019). All 
deadlines in this segment of the proceeding have been extended by 40 
days.
    \7\ See Letter to Wilbur L. Ross, Jr., Secretary of Commerce, 
form the American Sugar Coalition and its members, ``Sugar from 
Mexico: Resubmission of Request for Administrative Review'' 
(February 12, 2019).
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    Commerce initiated the review of the amended AD Agreement on March 
14, 2019, for the December 1, 2017 through November 30, 2018, period of 
review (POR).\8\ On May 6, 2019, Commerce selected mandatory 
respondents and issued its questionnaires to the respondent companies: 
Grupo PIASA and P[aacute]nuco.\9\ These two companies represented the 
largest producers/exporters of subject merchandise imported into the 
United States during the POR.
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    \8\ See Initiation of Antidumping and Countervailing Duty 
Administrative Reviews, 84 FR 9297 (March 14, 2019).
    \9\ See Memorandum to the File, ``Administrative Review of the 
Agreement Suspending the Antidumping Duty Investigation on Sugar 
from Mexico, as Amended: Placement of CBP Data on the Record for 
Respondent Selection'' (March 18, 2019).
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Scope of Review

    Merchandise covered by this amended AD Agreement was typically 
imported under the following headings of the HTSUS during the POR: 
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.\10\
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    \10\ For a complete description of the Scope of the Order, see 
Memorandum to Jeffrey I. Kessler, Assistant Secretary for 
Enforcement and Compliance, ``Decision Memorandum for Preliminary 
Results of Administrative Review of the Agreement Suspending the 
Antidumping Duty Investigation on Sugar from Mexico,'' dated 
concurrently with 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.'' 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.\11\ The Mexican signatories also agreed to other 
conditions, including the reporting of the polarity testing of Other 
Sugar \12\ and enhanced monitoring.\13\
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    \11\ See AD Agreement, 79 FR at 78039, 78042, and 78044, at 
Price Undertaking. See also AD Amendment, 82 FR at 31946-47.
    \12\ See AD Agreement, 79 FR at 78039, 78041 at Definitions. See 
also AD Amendment, 82 FR 31945, 31946-47.
    \13\ See AD Agreement, 79 FR at 78040, 78042-43, at Monitoring 
of the Agreement. See also AD Amendment, 82 FR at 31947.
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    After reviewing the information received to date from the 
respondent companies in their questionnaire and supplemental 
questionnaire responses, we preliminarily determine that the 
respondents adhered to the terms of the amended AD Agreement in effect 
during the POR and that the amended AD Agreement was functioning as 
intended. Further, we preliminarily determine that the amended AD 
Agreement was meeting the statutory requirements under sections 734(c) 
and (d) of the Act during the POR. For a full description of the 
methodology underlying our conclusions, see the Preliminary Decision 
Memorandum. Issues involving business proprietary information are 
addressed in separate memoranda.\14\
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    \14\ See Memorandum to the File, ``Analysis of Proprietary 
Information and Argument Regarding Ingenio Aldolfo Lopez Mateos S.A. 
de C.V. and Its Affiliates'' (January 31, 2020); Memorandum to the 
File, ``Analysis of Proprietary Information and Argument Regarding 
Ingenio P[aacute]nuco, S.A.P.I. de C.V.'' (January 31, 2020).
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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.\15\
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    \15\ 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 to the Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and 
Compliance 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

[[Page 6896]]

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: January 31, 2020.
Jeffrey I. Kessler,
Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance.
[FR Doc. 2020-02364 Filed 2-5-20; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P