Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 247 / Wednesday, December 27, 2023 / Notices 89367 

1See Sugar from Mexico: Suspension of 

Antidumping Investigation, 79 FR 78039 (December 

29, 2014); see also Sugar from Mexico: Amendment 

to the Agreement Suspending the Antidumping 

Duty Investigation, 85 FR 3620 (January 22, 2020) 

(collectively, AD Agreement). 

2The members of the American Sugar Coalition 

are as follows: American Sugar Cane League, 

American Sugarbeet Growers Association, 

American Sugar Refining, Inc., Florida Sugar Cane 

League, Rio Grande Valley Sugar Growers, Inc., 

Sugar Cane Growers Cooperative of Florida, and the 

United States Beet Sugar Association. 

3See Petitioners’ Letter, ‘‘Request for 

Administrative Review,’’ dated December 20, 2022. 

4Prior to July 1, 2016, merchandise covered by 

the AD Agreement was also classified in the HTSUS 

under subheading 1701.99.1010. Prior to January 1, 

2020, merchandise covered by the AD Agreement 

was also classified in the HTSUS under 

subheadings 1701.14.1000 and 1701.99.5010. 

5For a complete description of the Scope of the 

AD Agreement, see Memorandum, ‘‘Decision 

Memorandum for the Preliminary Results of the 

2021–2022 Administrative Review: Sugar from 

Mexico,’’ dated concurrently with, and hereby 

adopted by, this notice (Preliminary Decision 

Memorandum). 

6See AD Agreement at Section VI and Appendix 

I. 

7 Id. at Section VI. 

8 Id. at Sections VII.B.1, VII.B.2, and VII.B.4. 

9 Id. at Section VII.C.4. 

10 ‘‘Intermediary Customer’’ is defined in Section 

II.N of the AD Agreement. 

11See AD Agreement at Section VII.C.5. 

Members of the public are entitled to 

submit written comments; the 

comments must be received in the 

regional office within 30 days following 

the scheduled meeting. Written 

comments may be emailed to Mallory 

Trachtenberg at mtrachtenberg@

usccr.gov. Persons who desire 

additional information may contact the 

Regional Programs Coordination Unit at 

1–202–809–9618. 

Records generated from this meeting 

may be inspected and reproduced at the 

Regional Programs Coordination Unit 

Office, as they become available, both 

before and after the meeting. Records of 

the meetings will be available via 

www.facadatabase.gov under the 

Commission on Civil Rights, District of 

Columbia Advisory Committee link. 

Persons interested in the work of this 

Committee are directed to the 

Commission’s website, http:// 

www.usccr.gov, or may contact the 

Regional Programs Coordination Unit at 

svillanueva@usccr.gov. 

Agenda 

I. Welcome and Roll Call 

II. Approval of Minutes 

III. Project Planning 

IV. Public Comment 

V. Next Steps 

VI. Adjournment 

Dated: December 21, 2023. 

David Mussatt, 

Supervisory Chief, Regional Programs Unit. 

[FR Doc. 2023–28575 Filed 12–26–23; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

International Trade Administration 

[A–201–845] 

Agreement Suspending the 

Antidumping Duty Investigation on 

Sugar From Mexico: Preliminary 

Results of the 2021–2022 

Administrative Review and 

Postponement of Final Results 

AGENCY: Enforcement and Compliance, 

International Trade Administration, 

Department of Commerce. 

SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of 

Commerce (Commerce) preliminarily 

determines that the respondents 

selected for individual examination, 

respectively, Compan ̃ı ́a Industrial 

Azucarera S.A. de C.V. and its affiliates 

and Ingenio Presidente Benito Juarez 

S.A. de C.V., were in compliance with 

the terms of the Agreement Suspending 

the Antidumping Duty Investigation on 

Sugar from Mexico, as amended (AD 

Agreement) during the period of review 

(POR) from December 1, 2021, through 

November 30, 2022. Commerce also 

preliminarily determines that the AD 

Agreement met the applicable statutory 

requirements during the POR. 

DATES: Applicable December 27, 2023. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jill 

Buckles or Walter Schaub, Enforcement 

and Compliance, International Trade 

Administration, U.S. Department of 

Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue 

NW, Washington, DC 20230; telephone: 

(202) 482–6230 or (202) 482–0907, 

respectively. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

Commerce and Mexican producers/ 

exporters accounting for substantially 

all imports of sugar from Mexico signed 

the AD Agreement under section 734(c) 

of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended 

(the Act), which suspended the 

underlying antidumping duty 

investigation, on December 19, 2014, 

and which was subsequently amended 

on January 15, 2020.1

On December 20, 2022, the American 

Sugar Coalition and its members 

(petitioners) 2 filed a timely request for 

an administrative review of the AD 

Agreement.3 On February 2, 2023, 

Commerce initiated an administrative 

review for the period December 1, 2021, 

through November 30, 2022. 

On March 31, 2023, Commerce 

selected two companies as mandatory 

respondents, listed in alphabetical 

order: Compan ̃ı ́a Industrial Azucarera 

S.A. de C.V. and its affiliates and 

Ingenio Presidente Benito Juarez S.A. de 

C.V. 

Scope of the AD Agreement 

The product covered by this AD 

Agreement is raw and refined sugar of 

all polarimeter readings derived from 

sugar cane or sugar beets. Merchandise 

covered by this AD Agreement is 

typically imported under the following 

headings of the HTSUS: 1701.12.1000, 

1701.12.5000, 1701.13.1000, 

1701.13.5000, 1701.14.1020, 

1701.14.1040, 1701.14.5000, 

1701.91.1000, 1701.91.3000, 

1701.99.1015, 1701.99.1017, 

1701.99.1025, 1701.99.1050, 

1701.99.5015, 1701.99.5017, 

1701.99.5025, 1701.99.5050, and 

1702.90.4000.4 The tariff classification 

is provided for convenience and 

customs purposes; however, the written 

description of the scope of this AD 

Agreement is dispositive.5

Methodology and Preliminary Results 

Commerce has conducted this review 

in accordance with section 751(a)(1)(C) 

of the Act, which specifies that 

Commerce shall ‘‘review the current 

status of, and compliance with, any 

agreement by reason of which an 

investigation was suspended.’’ Pursuant 

to the AD Agreement, each signatory 

producer/exporter individually agrees 

that it will not sell subject merchandise 

at prices less than the reference prices 

established in Appendix I to the AD 

Agreement.6 Each signatory producer/ 

exporter also individually agrees that for 

each entry, the amount by which the 

estimated normal value exceeds the 

export price (or the constructed export 

price) will not exceed 15 percent of the 

weighted average amount by which the 

estimated normal value exceeded the 

export price (or constructed export 

price) for all less-than-fair-value entries 

of the producer/exporter examined 

during the course of the investigation.7

The signatory producers/exporters also 

individually agree to provide 

documentation upon request from 

Commerce 8 and provide certifications 

each quarter 9 to allow Commerce to 

monitor the AD Agreement. In addition, 

the signatory producers/exporters agree 

to incorporate into their sales contracts 

with Intermediary Customers 10 the 

obligation that such customers will 

abide by the terms of the AD 

Agreement.11 Lastly, the signatory 

producers/exporters agree to ensure that 


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89368 Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 247 / Wednesday, December 27, 2023 / Notices 

12 ‘‘Other Sugar’’ is defined Section II.F of the AD 

Agreement. 13See AD Agreement at Section VII.C.6. 14See Preliminary Decision Memorandum at 6–8 

and fn. 47 and 59. 

15See 19 CFR 351.309(d); see also Administrative 

Protective Order, Service, and Other Procedures in 

Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Proceedings, 

88 FR 67069, 67077 (September 29, 2023). 

16See 19 351.309(c)(2) and (d)(2). 

17We use the term ‘‘issue’’ here to describe an 

argument that Commerce would normally address 

in a comment of the Issues and Decision 

Memorandum. 

18See Administrative Protective Order, Service, 

and Other Procedures in Antidumping and 

Countervailing Duty Proceedings; Final Rule, 88 FR 

67069 (September 29, 2023). 

Other Sugar 12 is tested for polarity by 

a laboratory approved by CBP upon 

entry into the United States and that the 

importers of record report the polarity 

test results for each entry to Commerce 

within 30 days of entry.13

After reviewing the information 

received from the respondent 

companies in their questionnaire and 

supplemental questionnaire responses, 

we preliminarily determine that the 

respondents adhered to the terms of the 

AD Agreement during the POR and that 

the AD Agreement is functioning as 

intended. Further, we preliminarily 

determine that the AD Agreement 

continued to meet the statutory 

requirements under sections 734(c) and 

(d) of the Act during the POR. 

We were not able to complete our 

review of one respondent for one aspect 

of the AD Agreement, the requirement 

in Section VI to eliminate at least 85 

percent of the dumping found in the 

investigation, and we therefore intend to 

address this issue in a post-preliminary 

analysis. We find that we require 

additional information in order to 

complete our examination. Therefore, 

we will continue our examination after 

the issuance of these preliminary results 

as to whether the respondents complied 

with the requirement to eliminate at 

least 85 percent of the dumping found 

in the investigation during the POR, and 

we intend to issue a post-preliminary 

analysis addressing the issue as soon as 

practicable. 

For a full description of the 

methodology underlying our 

conclusions, see the Preliminary 

Decision Memorandum. The 

Preliminary Decision Memorandum is a 

public document and is on file 

electronically via Enforcement and 

Compliance’s Antidumping and 

Countervailing Duty Centralized 

Electronic Service System (ACCESS). 

ACCESS is available to registered users 

at https://access.trade.gov. In addition, a 

complete version of the Preliminary 

Decision Memorandum can be accessed 

directly at https://access.trade.gov/ 

public/FRNoticesListLayout.aspx. 

Commerce also addresses certain issues, 

which require discussion of business 

proprietary information, in separate 

memoranda which we incorporate into 

the Preliminary Decision 

Memorandum.14

Public Comment 

Commerce intends to issue a postpreliminary analysis memorandum 

subsequent to the publication of this 

notice with respect to the requirement 

to eliminate at least 85 percent of the 

dumping found in the investigation. 

Thus, Commerce will announce the 

briefing schedule to interested parties at 

a later date. Interested parties may 

submit case briefs on the deadline that 

Commerce will announce. Rebuttal 

briefs, limited to issues raised in the 

case briefs, may be filed not later than 

five days after the date for filing case 

briefs.15 Interested parties who submit 

case briefs or rebuttal briefs in this 

proceeding must submit: (1) a table of 

contents listing each issue; and (2) a 

table of authorities.16 As provided under 

19 CFR 351.309(c)(2) and (d)(2), in prior 

proceedings we have encouraged 

interested parties to provide an 

executive summary of their brief that 

should be limited to five pages total, 

including footnotes. In this review, we 

instead request that interested parties 

provide at the beginning of their briefs 

a public, executive summary for each 

issue raised in their briefs.17 Further, we 

request that interested parties limit their 

executive summary of each issue to no 

more than 450 words, not including 

citations. We intend to use the executive 

summaries as the basis of the comment 

summaries included in the issues and 

decision memorandum that will 

accompany the final results in this 

administrative review. We request that 

interested parties include footnotes for 

relevant citations in the executive 

summary of each issue. Note that 

Commerce has amended certain of its 

requirements pertaining to the service of 

documents in 19 CFR 351.303(f).18

Pursuant to 19 CFR 351.310(c), 

interested parties who wish to request a 

hearing must submit a written request to 

the Assistant Secretary for Enforcement 

and Compliance, filed electronically via 

ACCESS. Requests should contain: (1) 

the party’s name, address, and 

telephone number; (2) the number of 

participants; and (3) a list of issues to be 

discussed. Issues raised in the hearing 

will be limited to those raised in the 

respective case briefs. An electronically 

filed hearing request must be received 

successfully in its entirety by 

Commerce’s electronic records system, 

ACCESS, by 5 p.m. Eastern Time within 

30 days after the date of publication of 

this notice. 

Commerce intends to issue the final 

results of this administrative review, 

including the results of its analysis of 

the issues raised in any written briefs, 

not later than 120 days after the date of 

publication of this notice, pursuant to 

section 751(a)(3)(A) of the Act, unless 

extended. 

Notification to Interested Parties 

We are issuing and publishing these 

results in accordance with sections 

751(a)(1) and 777(i)(1) of the Act. 

Dated: December 20, 2023. 

James Maeder, 

Deputy Assistant Secretary for Antidumping 

and Countervailing Duty Operations. 

Appendix 

List of Topics Discussed in the Preliminary 

Decision Memorandum 

I. Summary 

II. Background 

III. Scope of the Agreement 

IV. Preliminary Results of Review 

V. Recommendation 

[FR Doc. 2023–28492 Filed 12–26–23; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–DS–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

International Trade Administration 

[C–201–846] 

Agreement Suspending the 

Countervailing Duty Investigation on 

Sugar From Mexico; Preliminary 

Results of the 2022 Administrative 

Review 

AGENCY: Enforcement and Compliance, 

International Trade Administration, 

Department of Commerce. 

SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of 

Commerce (Commerce) preliminarily 

determines that the signatory, the 

Government of Mexico (GOM), and the 

respondent companies selected for 

individual examination, respectively, 

Compan ̃ı ́a Industrial Azucarera S.A. de 

C.V. and its affiliates and Ingenio 

Presidente Benito Juarez S.A. de C.V., 

were in compliance with the Agreement 

Suspending the Countervailing Duty 

Investigation on Sugar from Mexico, as 

amended (CVD Agreement) during the 

period of review (POR). Commerce also 

preliminarily determines that the CVD 

Agreement met the applicable statutory 

requirements during the POR. 

DATES: Applicable December 27, 2023. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jill 

Buckles or Walter Schaub, Enforcement 

& Compliance, International Trade 


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