[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 84 (Thursday, April 30, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 23945-23946]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-09223]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[A-201-845, C-201-846]


Sugar From Mexico: Continuation of Suspension of Antidumping and 
Countervailing Duty Investigations

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

SUMMARY: As a result of determinations by the Department of Commerce 
(Commerce) that termination of the Agreements Suspending the 
Antidumping (AD) and Countervailing (CVD) Duty Investigations on Sugar 
from Mexico, as amended (the Agreements), and the suspended AD and CVD 
investigations on sugar from Mexico would likely lead to a continuation 
or recurrence of dumping and countervailable subsidies, and by the 
International Trade Commission (ITC) that termination of the suspended 
AD and CVD investigations would likely lead to material injury to an 
industry in the United States, Commerce is publishing this notice of 
continuation of the AD and CVD Agreements on sugar from Mexico.

DATES: Applicable April 30, 2020.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Sally C. Gannon or David Cordell, 
Bilateral Agreements Unit, Enforcement and 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 3, 2019, Commerce published the initiation of the first 
sunset reviews of the AD and CVD Agreements, pursuant to section 751(c) 
of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (the Act).\1\ On December 18, 
2019, we received notices of intent to participate in the sunset 
reviews from the following parties (both of which are domestic 
interested parties) within the deadline specified in 19 CFR 
351.218(d)(1)(i): Imperial Sugar Company (Imperial Sugar) and the 
American Sugar Coalition (ASC).\2\
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    \1\ See Initiation of Five-Year (Sunset) Reviews, 84 FR 58687 
(November 1, 2019); Initiation of Five-Year (Sunset) Review; 
Correction, 84 FR 66153 (December 3, 2019).
    \2\ See ASC's Letter, ``Sugar from Mexico: Notice of Intent to 
Participate'', dated December 18, 2019; see also Imperial Sugar's 
Letter, ``Sugar from Mexico, Case Nos. C-201-846 and A-201-845 
(Five-Year Sunset Reviews): Notice of Intent to Participate,'' dated 
December 18, 2019.
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    On January 2, 2020, Commerce received complete substantive 
responses from the domestic interested parties within the 30-day 
deadline specified in 19 CFR 351.218(d)(3)(i).\3\ Commerce received no 
substantive responses from respondent interested parties. Pursuant to 
section 751(c)(3)(B) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.218(e)(1)(ii)(C)(2), 
Commerce conducted expedited sunset reviews of the AD and CVD 
Agreements.
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    \3\ See ASC's Letter, ``Sugar from Mexico: Substantive Response 
to Notice of Initiation of Five-Year (Sunset) Reviews of the 
Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Suspension Agreements,'' dated 
January 2, 2020; see also Imperial Sugar's Letter, ``Sugar from 
Mexico: Substantive Response of the Imperial Sugar Company to 
Commerce's Notice of Initiation of Five-Year (`Sunset') Reviews,'' 
dated January 2, 2020.
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    As a result of its reviews, pursuant to sections 751(c) and 752(b) 
and (c) of the Act, Commerce determined that termination of the AD and 
CVD Agreements and suspended AD and CVD investigations on sugar from 
Mexico would likely lead to a continuation or recurrence of dumping and 
countervailable subsidies. Therefore, Commerce notified the ITC of the 
magnitude of the margin likely to prevail and the net countervailable 
subsidy rates likely to prevail should the AD and CVD Agreements be 
terminated, in accordance with sections 752(b)(3) and (c)(3) of the 
Act.\4\
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    \4\ See Sugar From Mexico: Final Results of the Expedited First 
Sunset Review of the Agreement Suspending the Antidumping Duty 
Investigation, 85 FR 19438 (April 7, 2020); and Sugar From Mexico: 
Final Results of the Expedited First Sunset Review of the Agreement 
Suspending the Countervailing Duty Investigation, 85 FR 9454 (April 
7, 2020).
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    On April 24, 2020, pursuant to section 751(c) of the Act, the ITC 
published its determination that termination of the suspended AD and 
CVD duty investigations on sugar from Mexico would be likely to lead to 
continuation or recurrence of material injury to an industry in the 
United States within a reasonably foreseeable time pursuant to sections 
751(c) and 752(a) of the Act.\5\
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    \5\ See Sugar from Mexico; Determination, Investigation No. 701-
TA-513 and 731-TA-1249 (Review), 85 FR 23063 (April 4, 2020); see 
also ITC Publication, Sugar from Mexico (701-TA-513 and 731-TA-1249 
(Review), USITC Publication 5045 (April 2020).

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[[Page 23946]]

Scope of the Agreements

    The merchandise subject to the AD and CVD Agreements 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 (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 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, de-sugaring 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 these AD and CVD Agreements. Merchandise covered by these AD 
and CVD Agreements 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 scope of the AD and CVD Agreements excludes sugar imported 
under the Refined Sugar Re-Export Programs of the U.S. Department of 
Agriculture, sugar products produced in Mexico that contain 95 percent 
or more sugar by dry weight that originated outside of Mexico, inedible 
molasses (other than inedible desugaring molasses noted above), 
beverages, candy, certain specialty sugars, and processed food products 
that contain sugar (e.g., cereals). Specialty sugars excluded from the 
scope of these AD and CVD Agreements are limited to the following: 
Caramelized slab sugar candy, pearl sugar, rock candy, dragees for 
cooking and baking, fondant, golden syrup, and sugar decorations.\6\
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    \6\ See Sugar from Mexico: Suspension of Antidumping 
Investigation, 79 FR 78039 (December 29, 2014); see also Sugar from 
Mexico: Suspension of Countervailing Duty Investigation, 79 FR 78044 
(December 29, 2014).
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Continuation of Suspension of Investigations

    As a result of the determinations by Commerce and the ITC that 
termination of the AD and CVD Agreements and suspended AD and CVD 
investigations would likely lead to continuation or recurrence of 
dumping, countervailable subsidies, and material injury to an industry 
in the United States, pursuant to section 751(d)(2) of the Act and 19 
CFR 351.218(a), Commerce hereby orders the continuation of the AD and 
CVD Agreements.
    The effective date of continuation of the AD and CVD Agreements 
will be the date of publication in the Federal Register of this notice 
of continuation. Pursuant to section 751(c)(2) of the Act and 19 CFR 
351.218(c)(2), Commerce intends to initiate the next five-year (sunset) 
reviews of the AD and CVD Agreements not later than 30 days prior to 
the fifth anniversary of the effective date of continuation.

Administrative Protective Order (APO)

    This notice also serves as the only reminder to parties subject to 
APO of their responsibility concerning the return, destruction, or 
conversion to judicial protective order of proprietary information 
disclosed under APO in accordance with 19 CFR 351.305(a)(3). Failure to 
comply is a violation of the APO which may be subject to sanctions.

Notification to Interested Parties

    These five-year (sunset) reviews and notice are in accordance with 
section 751(c) of the Act and published pursuant to section 777(i)(1) 
of the Act and 19 CFR 351.218(f)(4).

    Dated: April 24, 2020.
Jeffrey I. Kessler,
Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance.
[FR Doc. 2020-09223 Filed 4-29-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P