The U.S. Department of Commerce has finalized an agreement on the suspension of anti-dumping and countervailing duties on Mexican exports of sugar.
The agreement, which reworked a 2014 pact, averts steep duties on U.S. imports of sugar from Mexico, the top foreign supplier to the lucrative 11-million-tonne U.S. market. It also prevents the risk of retaliation from Mexico just as the two countries and Canada are ready to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) this year.
The two countries had reached a provisional agreement at the beginning of June 2017 following intensive negotiations. This agreement included measures to prevent dumping of Mexican sugar, with the US alleging that Mexican sugar was being sold into the US market at below the cost price in Mexico.
