[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 184 (Wednesday, September 23, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 57337-57339]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-24195]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
International Trade Administration
[C-201-846]
Sugar From Mexico: Final Affirmative Countervailing Duty
Determination
AGENCY: Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade Administration,
Department of Commerce.
SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce (the Department) determines that
countervailable subsidies are being provided to exporters and producers
of sugar from Mexico. For information on the estimated subsidy rates,
see the ``Final Determination'' section of this notice.
DATES: Effective date: September 23, 2015.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kaitlin Wojnar, AD/CVD Operations,
Office VII, Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade
Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 14th Street and
Constitution Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-
3857.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
The petitioner in this investigation is the American Sugar
Coalition and its members (Petitioners).\1\ In addition to the
Government of Mexico (GOM), the mandatory respondents in this
investigation are Fondo de Empresas Expropiadas del Sector Azucarero
(FEESA) and Ingenio Tala S.A. de C.V. and certain affiliated companies
owned by Grupo Azucarero Mexico S.A. de C.V. (collectively, the GAM
Group). The period of investigation (POI) is January 1, 2013, through
December 31, 2013.
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\1\ The American Sugar Coalition is comprised of the following
individual members: American Sugar Cane League; American Sugar
Refining, Inc.; American Sugarbeet Growers Association; Florida
Sugar Cane League; Hawaiian Commercial and Sugar Company; Rio Grande
Valley Sugar Growers, Inc.; Sugar Cane Growers Cooperative of
Florida; and United States Beet Sugar Association.
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The Department published its affirmative Preliminary Determination
on September 2, 2014.\2\ On December
[[Page 57338]]
19, 2014, the Department and a representative of the GOM signed an
agreement suspending this CVD investigation.\3\ Pursuant to timely
requests for continuation filed on January 16, 2015,\4\ the Department
published notice of continuation of the investigation on May 4,
2015.\5\ Subsequently, on June 18, 2015, the Department issued a post-
preliminary analysis memorandum.\6\ A complete summary of the events
that occurred since publication of the Preliminary Determination, as
well as a full discussion of the issues raised by parties for this
final determination, may be found in the ``Issues and Decision
Memorandum for the Final Affirmative Determination in the
Countervailing Duty Investigation of Sugar from Mexico'' (Issues and
Decision Memorandum),\7\ which is dated concurrently with and hereby
adopted by this notice. The Issues and Decision Memorandum is a public
document and is available electronically via Enforcement and
Compliance's Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Centralized Electronic
Service System (ACCESS). Access is available to registered users at
http://access.trade.gov and to all parties in the Central Records Unit,
room B8024 of the Department's main building. In addition, a complete
version of the Issues and Decision Memorandum can be accessed at http://enforcement.trade.gov/frn/. The signed Issues and Decision Memorandum
and the electronic version are identical in content.
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\2\ See Sugar from Mexico: Preliminary Affirmative
Countervailing Duty Determination and Alignment of Final
Countervailing Duty Determination with Final Antidumping Duty
Determination, 79 FR 51956 (September 2, 2014) (Preliminary
Determination).
\3\ See Sugar from Mexico: Suspension of Countervailing Duty
Investigation, 79 FR 78044 (December 29, 2014) (Suspension
Agreement).
\4\ See Letter from Imperial Sugar Company, ``Sugar from Mexico,
Inv. Nos. A-201-845 and C-201-846--Request for Continuation of
Investigations,'' January 16, 2015; see also Letter from AmCane
Sugar LLC, ``Sugar from Mexico: Request for Continuation of
Investigations,'' January 16, 2015.
\5\ See Department Memorandum, ``Standing of Imperial Sugar and
AmCane Sugar to Request Continuation of the AD and CVD
Investigations on Sugar from Mexico,'' dated April 24, 2015; see
also Sugar from Mexico: Continuation of Antidumping and
Countervailing Duty Investigations, 80 FR 25278 (May 4, 2015).
\6\ See Department Memorandum, ``Countervailing Duty
Investigation of Sugar from Mexico: Post-Preliminary Analysis,''
June 18, 2015.
\7\ See Department Memorandum, ``Issues and Decision Memorandum
for the Final Affirmative Determination in the Countervailing Duty
Investigation of Sugar from Mexico,'' September 16, 2015.
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Scope of the Investigation
The product covered by this investigation is sugar from Mexico.
Since the Preliminary Determination, the Department has updated the
scope of the investigation. For a discussion of these changes, see the
``Scope Comments'' section of the Issues and Decision Memorandum and,
for a complete description of the scope, see Appendix I to this notice.
Analysis of Subsidy Programs and Comments Received
The subsidy programs under investigation and the issues raised in
the case briefs and rebuttal briefs submitted by interested parties in
this proceeding are discussed in the Issues and Decision Memorandum. A
list of the issues raised by parties and responded to by the Department
in the Issues and Decision Memorandum is attached at Appendix II to
this notice.
Changes to the Preliminary Determination
Based on our analysis of the comments received and our findings at
verification, we made certain changes to the respondents' subsidy rate
calculations since the Preliminary Determination and our post-
preliminary analysis. These changes are discussed in the ``Analysis of
Programs'' section of the Issues and Decision Memorandum. As discussed
in the Issues and Decision Memorandum, for purposes of this final
determination, the Department relied, in part, on facts available when
necessary information was not available on the record.\8\
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\8\ See section 776(a) of the Act.
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Final Determination
In accordance with 705(c)(1)(B)(i)(1) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as
amended (the Act), the Department calculated a countervailable subsidy
rate for each individually investigated exporter/producer of the
subject merchandise. Consistent with sections 705(c)(1)(B)(i)(I) and
705(c)(5)(A) of the Act, the Department also calculated an estimated
``all others'' rate for exporters and producers not individually
investigated. Section 705(c)(5)(A)(i) of the Act provides that the
``all others'' rate will be equal to the weighted-average of the
countervailable subsidy rates, excluding de minimis rates and rates
determined entirely under section 776 of the Act, established for
individually investigated exporters and producers. Because the
weighted-average countervailable subsidy rates calculated for FEESA and
the GAM Group are not de minimis and are not based entirely on section
776 of the Act as facts available, the Department has estimated the
``all others'' rate in this final determination by weight-averaging the
weighted-average countervailable subsidy rates calculated for FEESA and
the GAM Group.
We determine the total estimated countervailable subsidy rates to
be:
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Company Subsidy rate
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Fondo de Empresas Expropiadas del 43.93 percent.
Sector Azucarero.
Ingenio Tala S.A. de C.V. and certain 5.78 percent.
affiliated sugar mills of Grupo
Azucarero Mexico S.A. de C.V..
All Others........................... 38.11 percent.
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In accordance with 19 CFR 351.224(b), we will disclose the
calculations performed within five days of any public announcement of
this notice.
As noted above, the Department signed a Suspension Agreement in
this investigation on December 19, 2014. On March 27, 2015, following a
review of the Suspension Agreement by the International Trade
Commission (ITC), the Department, in accordance with sections
704(h)(3)(A) and (B) of the Act, instructed Customs and Border
Protection (CBP) to terminate the suspension of liquidation of all
entries of sugar from Mexico and to refund any collected cash deposits
without regard to countervailing duties.\9\ Notwithstanding the
continuation and completion of the investigation, as the Suspension
Agreement continues to be in place, the Department will not instruct
CBP to suspend liquidation or to assess cash deposits at the
countervailing duty rates noted above unless the Suspension Agreement
is terminated.
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\9\ See Department Memorandum, ``Termination of Suspension of
Liquidation: Suspended Countervailing Duty Investigation on Sugar
from Mexico,'' March 27, 2015.
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[[Page 57339]]
ITC Notification
In accordance with 705(d) of the Act, we will notify the ITC of our
final determination. Because our final determination is affirmative,
the ITC will, within 45 days, determine whether these imports are
materially injuring, or threatening material injury to, the U.S.
industry. If the ITC determines that material injury, or threat of
material injury does not exist, the Suspension Agreement shall have no
force or effect, and the investigation shall be terminated.\10\ If the
ITC determines that such injury does exist, the Suspension Agreement
shall remain in force but the Department shall not issue a CVD order so
long as (1) the Suspension Agreement remains in force, (2) the
Suspension Agreement continues to meet the requirements of subsections
(c) and (d) of the Act, and (3) the parties to the Suspension Agreement
carry out their obligations under the Suspension Agreement in
accordance with its terms.\11\
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\10\ See section 704(f)(3)(A) of the Act.
\11\ See section 704(f)(3)(B) of the Act.
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Return or Destruction of Proprietary Information
This notice serves as the only reminder to parties subject to
administrative protective order (APO) of their responsibility
concerning the destruction of proprietary information disclosed under
APO in accordance with 19 CFR 351.305(a)(3). Timely written
notification of return/destruction of APO materials or conversion to
judicial protective order is hereby requested. Failure to comply with
the regulations and the terms of an APO is a violation subject to
sanction.
This determination is issued and published in accordance with
sections 705(d) and 777(i) of the Act.
Dated: September 16, 2015.
Ronald K. Lorentzen,
Acting Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance.
Appendix I
Scope of the Investigation
The product covered by this investigation 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 (InChI) for sucrose is 1S/C12H22O11/c13-1-4-
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 InChI 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 described in the previous paragraph 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, desugaring 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
this investigation.
The scope of the investigation does not include (1) sugar
imported under the Refined Sugar Re-Export Programs of the U.S.
Department of Agriculture; \1\ (2) sugar products produced in Mexico
that contain 95 percent or more sugar by dry weight that originated
outside of Mexico; (3) inedible molasses (other than inedible
desugaring molasses noted above); (4) beverages; (5) candy; (6)
certain specialty sugars; and (7) processed food products that
contain sugar (e.g., cereals). Specialty sugars excluded from the
scope of this investigation are limited to the following:
caramelized slab sugar candy, pearl sugar, rock candy, dragees for
cooking and baking, fondant, golden syrup, and sugar decorations.
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\1\ This exclusion applies to sugar imported under the Refined
Sugar Re-Export Program, the Sugar-Containing Products Re-Export
Program, and the Polyhydric Alcohol Program administered by the U.S.
Department of Agriculture.
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Merchandise covered by this investigation 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, 1702.90.4000 and 1703.10.3000. The tariff
classification is provided for convenience and customs purposes;
however, the written description of the scope of this investigation
is dispositive.
Appendix II
List of Topics Discussed in the Issues and Decision Memorandum
I. Summary
II. Background
III. Scope Comments
IV. Scope of the Investigation
V. Subsidies Valuation
VI. Analysis of Programs
VII. Discussion of the Issues
Issue 1: Standing to Request Continuation of the Investigation
Issue 2: Uncreditworthiness
Issue 3: Calculation of Discount Rates
Issue 4: Treatment of Grants as Non-Recurring Subsidies
Issue 5: Sugarcane for Less Than Adequate Remuneration (LTAR)
Issue 6: Forgiveness of Tax Liability Under the ``Catch Up'' Tax
Amnesty Program
Issue 7: Countervailability of 1998/1999 Restructuring of
Financiera Nacional Azucarera, S.N.C. (FINA) Debt
Issue 8: Amount of Benefits Received From the 1999 Inventory
Support Subsidy
Issue 9: Selection of FEESA as a Mandatory Respondent
Issue 10: Forgiveness of FEESA's Government Debts
Issue 11: Forgiveness of Wastewater Discharge Debt
Issue 12: FEESA's Interest-Free Social Security Debt
Issue 13: Preferential Lending to FEESA
Issue 14: Provision of General Services for LTAR
Issue 15: Sales Denominator Adjustments
Issue 16: Forgiveness of the GAM Group's Government Debts
Issue 17: Accelerated Depreciation of Renewable Energy
Investments
Issue 18: Repayment of Special Fund and Annual Budget
Allocations
Issue 19: Amount of Benefits Received from the 1997 Export
Subsidy
VIII. Conclusion
[FR Doc. 2015-24195 Filed 9-22-15; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P