| CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) - Sen. Craig Thomas, R-Wyo., successfully offered an
amendment to a trade bill that seeks to apply tariffs to sugar-spiked
molasses imports. "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.
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.
"Imported stuffed molasses is little more than a shifty plan by
foreign competitors to duck the legal U.S. tariffs," Thomas said
Wednesday in a release. "The sugar dodge must end."
Thomas' amendment was attached to a trade adjustment bill that was
recommended Tuesday by the Senate Finance Committee, of which he is a
member.
More then 6,000 jobs in Wyoming are directly related to the sugar
industry, Thomas said. |