[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 247 (Wednesday, December 27, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 89367-89368]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-28492]


=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[A-201-845]


Agreement Suspending the Antidumping Duty Investigation on Sugar 
From Mexico: Preliminary Results of the 2021-2022 Administrative Review 
and Postponement of Final Results

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

SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of Commerce (Commerce) preliminarily 
determines that the respondents 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 terms of the Agreement Suspending the 
Antidumping Duty Investigation on Sugar from Mexico, as amended (AD 
Agreement) during the period of review (POR) from December 1, 2021, 
through November 30, 2022. Commerce also preliminarily determines that 
the AD Agreement met the applicable statutory requirements during the 
POR.

DATES: Applicable December 27, 2023.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jill Buckles or Walter Schaub, 
Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade 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 Mexican producers/exporters accounting for 
substantially all imports of sugar from Mexico signed the AD Agreement 
under section 734(c) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (the Act), 
which suspended the underlying antidumping duty investigation, on 
December 19, 2014, and which was subsequently amended on January 15, 
2020.\1\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \1\ See Sugar from Mexico: Suspension of Antidumping 
Investigation, 79 FR 78039 (December 29, 2014); see also Sugar from 
Mexico: Amendment to the Agreement Suspending the Antidumping Duty 
Investigation, 85 FR 3620 (January 22, 2020) (collectively, AD 
Agreement).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    On December 20, 2022, the American Sugar Coalition and its members 
(petitioners) \2\ filed a timely request for an administrative review 
of the AD Agreement.\3\ On February 2, 2023, Commerce initiated an 
administrative review for the period December 1, 2021, through November 
30, 2022.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \2\ 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.
    \3\ See Petitioners' Letter, ``Request for Administrative 
Review,'' dated December 20, 2022.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    On March 31, 2023, Commerce selected two companies as mandatory 
respondents, listed in alphabetical 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.

Scope of the AD Agreement

    The product covered by this AD Agreement is raw and refined sugar 
of all polarimeter readings derived from sugar cane or sugar beets. 
Merchandise covered by this AD Agreement is typically imported under 
the following headings of the HTSUS: 1701.12.1000, 1701.12.5000, 
1701.13.1000, 1701.13.5000, 1701.14.1020, 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.\4\ The tariff classification is provided for 
convenience and customs purposes; however, the written description of 
the scope of this AD Agreement is dispositive.\5\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \4\ 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.
    \5\ For a complete description of the Scope of the AD Agreement, 
see Memorandum, ``Decision Memorandum for the Preliminary Results of 
the 2021-2022 Administrative Review: Sugar from Mexico,'' dated 
concurrently with, and hereby adopted by, this notice (Preliminary 
Decision Memorandum).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

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 AD Agreement, 
each signatory producer/exporter individually agrees that it will not 
sell subject merchandise at prices less than the reference prices 
established in Appendix I to the AD Agreement.\6\ Each signatory 
producer/exporter also individually agrees that for each entry, the 
amount by which the estimated normal value exceeds the export price (or 
the constructed export price) will not exceed 15 percent of the 
weighted average amount by which the estimated normal value exceeded 
the export price (or constructed export price) for all less-than-fair-
value entries of the producer/exporter examined during the course of 
the investigation.\7\ The signatory producers/exporters also 
individually agree to provide documentation upon request from Commerce 
\8\ and provide certifications each quarter \9\ to allow Commerce to 
monitor the AD Agreement. In addition, the signatory producers/
exporters agree to incorporate into their sales contracts with 
Intermediary Customers \10\ the obligation that such customers will 
abide by the terms of the AD Agreement.\11\ Lastly, the signatory 
producers/exporters agree to ensure that

[[Page 89368]]

Other Sugar \12\ is tested for polarity by a laboratory approved by CBP 
upon entry into the United States and that the importers of record 
report the polarity test results for each entry to Commerce within 30 
days of entry.\13\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \6\ See AD Agreement at Section VI and Appendix I.
    \7\ Id. at Section VI.
    \8\ Id. at Sections VII.B.1, VII.B.2, and VII.B.4.
    \9\ Id. at Section VII.C.4.
    \10\ ``Intermediary Customer'' is defined in Section II.N of the 
AD Agreement.
    \11\ See AD Agreement at Section VII.C.5.
    \12\ ``Other Sugar'' is defined Section II.F of the AD 
Agreement.
    \13\ See AD Agreement at Section VII.C.6.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    After reviewing the information received from the respondent 
companies in their questionnaire and supplemental questionnaire 
responses, we preliminarily determine that the respondents adhered to 
the terms of the AD Agreement during the POR and that the AD Agreement 
is functioning as intended. Further, we preliminarily determine that 
the AD Agreement continued to meet the statutory requirements under 
sections 734(c) and (d) of the Act during the POR.
    We were not able to complete our review of one respondent for one 
aspect of the AD Agreement, the requirement in Section VI to eliminate 
at least 85 percent of the dumping found in the investigation, and we 
therefore intend to address this issue in a post-preliminary analysis. 
We find that we require additional information in order to complete our 
examination. Therefore, we will continue our examination after the 
issuance of these preliminary results as to whether the respondents 
complied with the requirement to eliminate at least 85 percent of the 
dumping found in the investigation during the POR, and we intend to 
issue a post-preliminary analysis addressing the issue as soon as 
practicable.
    For a full description of the methodology underlying our 
conclusions, see the Preliminary Decision Memorandum. 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. Commerce 
also addresses certain issues, which require discussion of business 
proprietary information, in separate memoranda which we incorporate 
into the Preliminary Decision Memorandum.\14\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \14\ See Preliminary Decision Memorandum at 6-8 and fn. 47 and 
59.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Public Comment

    Commerce intends to issue a post-preliminary analysis memorandum 
subsequent to the publication of this notice with respect to the 
requirement to eliminate at least 85 percent of the dumping found in 
the investigation. Thus, Commerce will announce the briefing schedule 
to interested parties at a later date. Interested parties may submit 
case briefs on the deadline that Commerce will announce. 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.\15\ 
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.\16\ 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.\17\ 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).\18\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \15\ 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).
    \16\ See 19 351.309(c)(2) and (d)(2).
    \17\ We use the term ``issue'' here to describe an argument that 
Commerce would normally address in a comment of the Issues and 
Decision Memorandum.
    \18\ See Administrative Protective Order, Service, and Other 
Procedures in Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Proceedings; Final 
Rule, 88 FR 67069 (September 29, 2023).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    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. 2023-28492 Filed 12-26-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P