US Commerce's Ross, Mexico's Guajardo Agree to Continue Sugar Talks

The U.S. and Mexico will keep discussions going on the issue of sugar trade in the wake of a meeting between Mexico Economy Minister Ildefonso Guajardo and U.S. Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross in Washington, with Guajardo saying it is important to find a solution that maintains balance in the sweetener market.The two officials agreed to “maintain continuous and open dialogue in the coming days,” according to a statement from the Mexico’s ministry. The US and Mexico should be able to reach a deal in the next few weeks to resolve a sugar dispute, Guajardo said.The U.S. has threatened to impose antidumping and countervailing duties on Mexico's sugar exports to the U.S. if no deal is reached by June 5. That should be plenty of time to solve the problem, Guajardo argued, if the two sides are up to the political challenge of reaching a deal. "I think if you [can't] do anything in two weeks, you will not be able to do it in a year," Guajardo said.Guajardo and Ross also discussed the timing of NAFTA talks after the confirmation of Robert Lighthizer as U.S. Trade Representative.A key portion of the agreements required Mexico to guarantee that no more than 53% of its sugar exports to the US be refined sugar, and the remaining 47% be raw sugar for processing in the U.S. Refiners in the U.S., who complain that they are being driven out of business by a dearth of sugar to refine, want the ratio flipped to 85% raw and 15% refined. Mexico is believed to be offering 70% raw versus 30% refined, in the hope of settling on an 80/20 split, an industry official said.Guajardo suggested in remarks to Politico the differences between the sides were not that big. "Just to give you an idea, in terms of the definition between refined and raw sugar, we're talking about 150,000 tonnes, which is not more than 1% of the total US market. So, we're not talking about something humongously disruptive," Guajardo said. "We're not talking about an elephant here. We're talking about a minor adjustment that will not have any impact on the market and the industry."The senior Mexican official downplayed the possibility of Mexico filing a World Trade Organization case against the U.S. sugar program if no deal is reached, as some Mexican industry officials advocated back in 2014 when they were facing U.S. antidumping and countervailing duties. However, he noted that there is the possibility of Mexican industry filing an antidumping and countervailing duty complaint against U.S. exports of high-fructose corn syrup to Mexico.