Washington, D.C. – The Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) today announced the country-specific in-quota allocations of additional Fiscal Year (FY) 2011 for imported raw cane sugar and of country-specific reallocations of the FY 2011 in-quota quantity of the tariff-rate quota (TRQ) for imported raw cane sugar. Tariff-rate quotas (TRQs) allow countries to export specified quantities of a product to the United States at a relatively low tariff, but subject all imports of the product above a pre-determined threshold to a higher tariff.
On April 11, 2011, Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack announced an additional in-quota quantity for the TRQ for raw cane sugar for the remainder of FY 2011 (ending September 30, 2011) in the amount of 294,835 metric tons* raw value (MTRV). This quantity is in addition to the minimum amount to which the United States is committed under the World Trade Organization (WTO) Uruguay Round Agreements.
USTR has also determined to reallocate 102,177 MTRV of the minimum amount of the original TRQ for raw cane sugar from countries that have stated they will be unable to fill previously allocated FY 2011 raw sugar TRQ quantities.
USTR is allocating this total quantity of 397,012 MTRV to the following countries in the quantities specified below:
Country/FY 2011 Raw Cane Sugar Combined Reallocations and Increase (MTRV)
Argentina 21,395
Australia 41,299
Belize 5,474
Bolivia 3,980
Brazil 72,148
Colombia 11,941
Costa Rica 7,463
Dominican Republic 20,000
Ecuador 5,474
El Salvador 12,937
Guatemala 23,884
Guyana 5,971
Honduras 5,000
India 3,980
Jamaica 5,000
Malawi 4,976
Mauritius 2,000
Mozambique 6,469
Nicaragua 10,449
Panama 14,430
Peru 20,400
Philippines 60,000
South Africa 11,444
Swaziland 7,961
Thailand 6,966
Zimbabwe 5,971
These allocations are based on the countries’ historical shipments to the United States. The allocations of the raw cane sugar TRQ to countries that are net importers of sugar are conditioned on receipt of the appropriate verifications of origin, and certificates for quota eligibility must accompany imports from any country to which an allocation is provided.
*Conversion factor: 1 metric ton = 1.10231125 short tons.
