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On June 27, Mexico said it hopes to resolve a corn sweetener dispute with the United States through negotiation and not by appealing a ruling against anti-dumping tariffs on the sugar substitute.
"We have to discuss the issue," said the Mexican Economy Minister Ernesto Derbez. "It is part of conversations I am conducting now with (U.S. Trade Representative) Robert Zoellick."
Last week, on June 22, the World Trade Organization ruled that Mexico's 4-year-old anti-dumping tariffs on American High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) were illegal and should be stopped. The move elicited immediate calls for appeal from Mexican legislators and the domestic industry and put pressure on the government to finally resolve the ongoing dispute.
The Mexican sugar industry has opposed the imports of US corn sweetener since 1997, after ruling the HFCS was stealing away sugar's market share of the huge, lucrative Mexican soft-drinks market. The WTO ruling found that Mexican anti-dumping duties on U.S. corn sweetener, between $55.37 and $175.50 per metric ton, were in violation of international trade agreements.
Derbez said Mexico is unlikely to appeal the decision, even though it would be within its rights to do so. According to Derbez, a likely solution to the dispute would be to reach a joint agreement on Mexico-U.S. trade of sugar and HFCS.
Mexican legislators and sugar workers have said they will only accept a solution that balances the volume of Mexican sugar exports to the United States with U.S. HFCS exports to Mexico. The United States has limited Mexico's annual sugar import quota to 116,000 tonnes, while Mexico has insisted that under the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) it should be allowed to ship all of its surplus 600,000 tonnes of sugar to U.S. markets.
Source: Reuters