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) 2012 for imported raw cane sugar and of country-specific reallocations of the FY 2012 in-quota quantity of the tariff-rate quota (TRQ) for imported raw cane sugar. 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 19, 2011, Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack announced an additional in-quota quantity for the TRQ for raw cane sugar for the remainder of FY 2012 (ending September 30, 2012) in the amount of 381,018 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 73,446 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 2012 raw sugar TRQ quantities.
USTR is allocating this total quantity of 454,463 MTRV to the following countries in the quantities specified below:
Country FY 2012 Raw Cane Sugar Combined Reallocations and Increase (MTRV)
Argentina 24,061
Australia 46,443
Barbados 3,917
Belize 6,155
Bolivia 4,476
Brazil 81,136
Colombia 13,430
Costa Rica 8,393
Dominican Republic 30,000
Ecuador 6,155
El Salvador 14,548
Guatemala 26,858
Guyana 6,714
Honduras 5,596
India 4,476
Mauritius 2,000
Mozambique 7,275
Nicaragua 11,751
Panama 16,227
Peru 22,942
Philippines 75,540
South Africa 12,869
Swaziland 8,953
Thailand 7,834
Zimbabwe 6,714
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.
