| CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) - Sen. Craig Thomas, R-Wyo.,
hailed a U.S. Court of Appeals ruling that sugar-spiked
molasses imported from Canada is subject to the same quota
limitations imposed on other sugars. "Stuffed
molasses" is a product that some say allows foreign sugar
producers to bypass tariffs meant to protect domestic sugar
farmers. It is a mixture of molasses, water and sugar from
which certain components can easily be stripped away, leaving
behind liquid sugar.
The ruling came against the Heartland By-Products Corp. in
the federal circuit court in Washington, D.C.
"Imported 'stuffed molasses' was little more than a
shifty plan to circumvent the legal U.S. tariffs on imported
sugar products," Thomas said Wednesday in a release.
In 1999, the Customs Service determined that stuffed
molasses imported from Canada is just sugar and subject to the
quota on sugar imported into the United States. The Court of
International Trade overturned the Customs Service ruling and
the U.S. government appealed.
The Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington,
D.C., reversed on Aug. 30, holding that the Customs Service's
classification is the law.
Thomas, a member of the Senate Finance Committee, said he
will continue to pursue legislation that would permanently
close the import loophole.
More than 6,000 jobs in Wyoming are directly related to the
sugar industry, the senator said. |