[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 247 (Wednesday, December 27, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 89368-89370]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-28491]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[C-201-846]


Agreement Suspending the Countervailing Duty Investigation on 
Sugar From Mexico; Preliminary Results of the 2022 Administrative 
Review

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

SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of Commerce (Commerce) preliminarily 
determines that the signatory, the Government of Mexico (GOM), and the 
respondent companies selected for individual examination, respectively, 
Compa[ntilde][iacute]a Industrial Azucarera S.A. de C.V. and its 
affiliates and Ingenio Presidente Benito Juarez S.A. de C.V., were in 
compliance with the Agreement Suspending the Countervailing Duty 
Investigation on Sugar from Mexico, as amended (CVD Agreement) during 
the period of review (POR). Commerce also preliminarily determines that 
the CVD Agreement met the applicable statutory requirements during the 
POR.

DATES: Applicable December 27, 2023.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jill Buckles or Walter Schaub, 
Enforcement & Compliance, International Trade

[[Page 89369]]

Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue 
NW, Washington, DC 20230, telephone: (202) 482-6230 or (202) 482-0907, 
respectively.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    Commerce and the GOM signed the CVD Agreement under section 704(c) 
of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (the Act), which suspended the 
underlying countervailing duty investigation on sugar from Mexico, on 
December 19, 2014, and which was subsequently amended on January 15, 
2020.\1\
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    \1\ See Agreement Suspending the Countervailing Duty 
Investigation of Sugar from Mexico, 79 FR 78044 (December 29, 2014); 
see also Sugar from Mexico: Amendment to the Agreement Suspending 
the Countervailing Duty Investigation, 85 FR 3613 (January 22, 2020) 
(collectively, CVD Agreement).
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    On December 20, 2022, the American Sugar Coalition and its members 
(the petitioners) \2\ filed a timely request for an administrative 
review of the CVD Agreement.\3\ On February 2, 2023, Commerce initiated 
an administrative review for the period January 1, 2022, through 
December 31, 2022.\4\
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    \2\ The members of the American Sugar Coalition are: 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.
    \3\ See Petitioners' Letter, ``Request for Administrative 
Review,'' dated December 20, 2022.
    \4\ See Initiation of Antidumping and Countervailing Duty 
Administrative Reviews, 88 FR 7060 (February 2, 2023).
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    On March 31, 2023, Commerce selected two companies as mandatory 
respondents, listed in alphabetic order: Compa[ntilde][iacute]a 
Industrial Azucarera S.A. de C.V. and its affiliates and Ingenio 
Presidente Benito Juarez S.A. de C.V.\5\ In addition, the review 
covered the GOM, which is the signatory to the CVD Agreement.
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    \5\ See Memorandum, ``Respondent Selection,'' dated March 31, 
2023.
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Scope of the CVD Agreement

    The product covered by this CVD Agreement is raw and refined sugar 
of all polarimeter readings derived from sugar cane or sugar beets. 
Merchandise covered by this CVD Agreement is typically imported under 
the following subheadings of the HTSUS: 1701.12.1000, 1701.12.5000, 
1701.13.1000, 1701.13.5000, 1701.14.1020, 1701.14.1040, 1701.14.5000, 
1701.91.1000, 1701.91.3000, 1701.99.1015, 1701.99.1017, 1701.99.1025, 
1701.99.1050, 1701.99.5015, 1701.99.5017, 1701.99.5025, 1701.99.5050, 
and 1702.90.4000.\6\ The tariff classification is provided for 
convenience and customs purposes; however, the written description of 
the scope of this CVD Agreement is dispositive.\7\
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    \6\ Prior to July 1, 2016, merchandise covered by the AD 
Agreement was also classified in the HTSUS under subheading 
1701.99.1010. Prior to January 1, 2020, merchandise covered by the 
AD Agreement was also classified in the HTSUS under subheadings 
1701.14.1000 and 1701.99.5010.
    \7\ For a complete description of the Scope of the CVD 
Agreement, see Memorandum, ``Decision Memorandum for the Preliminary 
Results of the 2022 Administrative Review: Sugar from Mexico,'' 
dated concurrently with, and hereby adopted by, 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.'' Pursuant to the CVD Agreement, 
the GOM agrees that subject merchandise is subject to export limits.\8\ 
The GOM also agrees to other conditions including limits on exports of 
Refined Sugar \9\ and restrictions on shipping patterns for 
exports.\10\ The CVD Agreement also requires the GOM to issue contract-
specific export licenses,\11\ submit compliance monitoring reports to 
Commerce,\12\ and institute penalties for non-compliance with certain 
key terms of the CVD Agreement and the companion Agreement Suspending 
the Antidumping Duty Investigation on Sugar from Mexico, as amended (AD 
Agreement).\13\
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    \8\ See CVD Agreement at Section V.
    \9\ ``Refined Sugar'' is defined in Section II.L of the CVD 
Agreement.
    \10\ Id. at Section V.C.
    \11\ Id. at Section VI and Appendix I.
    \12\ Id. at Section VIII.B.1 and Appendix II.
    \13\ Id. at Section VIII.B.4; see also See Sugar from Mexico: 
Suspension of Antidumping Investigation, 79 FR 78039 (December 29, 
2014); and Sugar from Mexico: Amendment to the Agreement Suspending 
the Antidumping Duty Investigation, 85 FR 3620 (January 22, 2020) 
(collectively, AD Agreement).
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    After reviewing the information received from the GOM and 
respondent companies in their questionnaire and supplemental 
questionnaire responses, we preliminarily determine that the GOM and 
respondent companies adhered to the terms of the CVD Agreement during 
the POR and that the CVD Agreement is functioning as intended. Further, 
we preliminarily determine that the CVD Agreement continued to meet the 
statutory requirements under sections 704(c) and (d) of the Act during 
the POR.
    For a full description of the methodology underlying our 
conclusions, see the Preliminary Decision Memorandum. A list of the 
topics discussed in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum is included as 
the appendix to this notice. 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 (ACCESS). ACCESS is available to registered users at 
https://access.trade.gov. In addition, a complete version of the 
Preliminary Decision Memorandum can be accessed directly at https://access.trade.gov/public/FRNoticesListLayout.aspx.

Public Comment

    Pursuant to 19 CFR 351.309(c), interested parties may submit case 
briefs to Commerce no later than 30 days from the publication of these 
preliminary results in the Federal Register. 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.\14\ Interested parties who 
submit case briefs or rebuttal briefs in this proceeding must submit: 
(1) a table of contents listing each issue; and (2) a table of 
authorities.\15\
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    \14\ See 19 CFR 351.309(d); see also Administrative Protective 
Order, Service, and Other Procedures in Antidumping and 
Countervailing Duty Proceedings, 88 FR 67069, 67077 (September 29, 
2023) (APO and Final Service Rule).
    \15\ See 19 351.309(c)(2) and (d)(2).
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    As provided under 19 CFR 351.309(c)(2) and (d)(2), in prior 
proceedings we have encouraged interested parties to provide an 
executive summary of their brief that should be limited to five pages 
total, including footnotes. In this review, we instead request that 
interested parties provide at the beginning of their briefs a public, 
executive summary for each issue raised in their briefs.\16\ Further, 
we request that interested parties limit their executive summary of 
each issue to no more than 450 words, not including citations. We 
intend to use the executive summaries as the basis of the comment 
summaries included in the issues and decision memorandum that will 
accompany the final results in this administrative review. We request 
that interested parties include footnotes for relevant citations in the 
executive summary of each issue. Note that Commerce has amended certain 
of its requirements pertaining to the service of documents in 19 CFR 
351.303(f).\17\
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    \16\ We use the term ``issue'' here to describe an argument that 
Commerce would normally address in a comment of the Issues and 
Decision Memorandum.
    \17\ See APO and Final Service Rule.

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[[Page 89370]]

    Pursuant to 19 CFR 351.310(c), interested parties who wish to 
request a hearing must submit a written request to the Assistant 
Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance, filed electronically via 
ACCESS. 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. An electronically filed 
hearing request must be received successfully in its entirety by 
Commerce's electronic records system, ACCESS, by 5 p.m. Eastern Time 
within 30 days after the date of publication of this notice.
    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, unless extended.

Notification to Interested Parties

    We are issuing and publishing these results in accordance with 
sections 751(a)(1) and 777(i)(1) of the Act.

    Dated: December 20, 2023.
James Maeder,
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Antidumping and Countervailing Duty 
Operations.

Appendix--List of Topics Discussed in the Preliminary Decision 
Memorandum

I. Summary
II. Background
III. Scope of the Agreement
IV. Preliminary Results of Review
V. Recommendation

[FR Doc. 2023-28491 Filed 12-26-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P