USTR Lists Countries Eligible for 2018 Sugar 'Trade Surplus' TRQs
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative announced eligibility for "trade surplus" tariff-rate quotas (TRQs) for sugar originating in certain free trade agreement countries for calendar year 2018. USTR found Colombia and five members of the Dominican Republic-Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR) eligible for the TRQ. The agency found Panama, the Dominican Republic, Chile, Morocco and Peru do not qualify.
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Timely, relevant coverage of court proceedings and agency rulings involving tariffs, classification, valuation, origin and antidumping and countervailing duties. Each day, Trade Law Daily subscribers receive a daily headline email, in-depth PDF edition and access to all relevant documents via our trade law source document library and website.
Five CAFTA-DR Countries, Colombia Eligible for 2018 'Trade Surplus' TRQ Amounts
For Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua (all members of CAFTA-DR), and Colombia, exports of sugar and syrup goods and sugar-containing products each exceeded their imports of those goods in calendar year (CY) 2016. As a result, each of these countries has a trade surplus and is eligible to receive in CY 2018 the following “trade surplus” TRQ amounts to be entered duty-free under CAFTA-DR (HTS 9822.05.20) and Colombia (HTS 9822.08.01).
| Costa Rica | 13,640 metric tons |
| El Salvador | 34,680 metric tons |
| Guatemala | 47,940 metric tons |
| Honduras | 9,920 metric tons |
| Nicaragua | 27,280 metric tons |
| Colombia | 54,500 metric tons |
Chile, Morocco, Dominican Republic, Panama and Peru Not Eligible for 2018 'Trade Surplus' TRQ
According to USTR, 2016 data indicates that for Chile, the Dominican Republic, Morocco, Panama and Peru, imports of sugar and syrup goods and sugar-containing products exceeded its exports of those goods, resulting in a trade deficit and ineligibility for the “trade surplus” TRQ. Therefore, subject goods from Chile are not eligible to enter the U.S. duty-free under HTS 9911.17.05 in CY 2018. Subject goods from Morocco are not eligible to enter the U.S. duty-free under HTS 9912.17.05 or at preferential tariff rates under 9912.17.10 through 9912.17.85 in CY 2018. In addition, subject goods from Peru are not eligible to enter the U.S. duty-free under HTS 9822.06.10 in CY 2018. Also, subject goods from the Dominican Republic are not eligible to enter the U.S. duty-free under HTS 9822.05.20 in CY 2018, and subject goods from Panama are not eligible to enter the U.S. duty-free under HTS 9822.09.17 in CY 2018.
(Federal Register 12/28/17)