REUTERS: United States and Mexico finalize sugar trade deal

06/15/2017

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June 14, 2017 | By: Chris Prentice and Lesley Wroughton.

The United States and Mexico on Wednesday finalized terms of a sugar trade pact that seeks to resolve a years-long dispute between the governments before a North American trade deal is renegotiated.

The sugar deal, which was reworked from a 2014 pact, averts imposition of large duties on U.S. imports of Mexican sugar while also addressing U.S. industry demands for protection from cheap, subsidized sugar from its top foreign supplier.The agreement was initialed by the two governments on Wednesday and opened for public comments for seven days, the U.S. Commerce Department said in a statement.The news comes a week after U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross and Mexican Economy Minister Ildefonso Guajardo announced an agreement in principle.

“Taken together, these amendments provide a significant improvement and are designed to address the concerns raised by the U.S. sugar industry with the operation of the suspension agreements,” the department said in an emailed statement.

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