|
WASHINGTON (Dow Jones)--The U.S. will continue to negotiate with
Mexico over trade in sweeteners between the two countries, an aide
with the U.S. Trade Representative's office said Friday.
"They have agreed to continue talking. But there has been no
resolution," USTR spokesman Todd Glass told Dow Jones
Newswires.
U.S. special agriculture negotiator Greg Frazier returned to the
U.S. late Thursday from a round of negotiations with his
counterparts in Mexico City, Glass said.
He added the two parties are expected to "check in"
with each other by early next week to arrange another meeting.
Glass said he had no comment on assertions by the Mexican sugar
industry that talks had broken down and that the U.S. has exhibited
ill-will during the two countries' three years of negotiations over
sweetener trade.
Meanwhile, Mexico has said it will seek a second dispute panel
under the North American Free Trade Agreement if a satisfactory deal
isn't reached by July 31.
Mexico has challenged a so-called "side letter
agreement" under NAFTA that the U.S. says limits Mexico's
access to its sugar import quota. This fiscal year, which ends Sep.
30, Mexico is allowed to ship 25,000 tons to the U.S. duty-free.
Under the NAFTA side letter, Mexico will get a 250,000-metric-ton
allotment of the quota in fiscal 2001.
However, the U.S. and Mexico disagree about which version of the
"side letter" agreement is legitimate. Mexico wants the
original version - which would allow the country to export its
entire surplus production to the U.S. - put into play.
On the other hand, the U.S. is enforcing a later version that
caps Mexico sugar shipments to the U.S. at 250,000 tons. Mexico says
it never signed this version.
Now, Mexican negotiators are asking for a minimum initial quota
of 350,000 tons for fiscal 2001, which begins Oct. 1. In addition,
Mexico would like additional shipments of sugar to the U.S. equal
kilogram-per-kilogram to the amount of high fructose corn syrup the
U.S. ships into Mexico.
The U.S. fears a flood of Mexican sugar into the country would
further exacerbate the oversupply of sugar in the U.S.
The dispute began in 1997 when Mexico accused the U.S. of dumping
high-fructose corn syrup on its market and imposed stiff
anti-dumping duties on those imports. HFCS is used in soft drinks
and bakery products as a sweetener.
The U.S. balked at those duties and has since refused to increase
Mexican access to the U.S. sugar import quota.
The U.S. announced last year it would allow 1.362 million metric
tons of sugar, or 1.501 million short tons, to be imported under low
or no duties for the 2000 fiscal year, which began Oct. 1.
|