WTO panel sides against Mexico tax on U.S. corn sweetener
Mexico violated global trade rules in a soft-drink dispute with the United States, a World Trade Organization panel ruled Friday.
At issue is a 20-percent tax that Mexico imposed on beverages made with imported sweeteners such as high-fructose corn syrup and sugar made from beets. Drinks made with Mexican cane sugar are exempt from the tax.
Mexico said that regardless of the WTO panel decision, unless it can reach an agreement with the United States, it will continue to adopt the measures it considers necessary to protect the interests of its sugar sector.
Mexico was a top market for high-fructose corn syrup from the U.S. before the tax was imposed in 2002. The tax made it too expensive to use the corn sweetener in soft drinks, and today, the U.S. share of the market is about 6 percent of pretax levels, according to the U.S. trade representative’s office.
“The WTO panel could not have been clearer: Mexico’s beverage tax is discriminatory and contrary to WTO rules,” U.S. Trade Representative Rob Portman said. “Mexico needs to eliminate this tax as soon as possible.”
The dispute over sugar and corn sweetener has cost U.S. corn refiners $944 million annually, according to the Washington-based Corn Refiners Association.
“Our industry has long supported a solution that opens the sweetener market between the United States and Mexico and restores that market for U.S. corn sweeteners,” said association president Audrae Erickson.
Mexico imposed the tax after the WTO ruled against Mexican duties on imported corn syrup.
Officials of Mexico’s Economy Department have publicly discussed imposing a 210 percent duty on high-fructose corn syrup in anticipation of the WTO’s action. In a statement Friday, officials were more reserved, saying only that they were weighing their options.
“Mexico will always give preference to a negotiated solution,” the statement said.
Source: mercurynews.com
WTO panel sides against Mexico tax on US corn sweetener
A World Trade Organization panel has found that Mexico violated global trade rules in a soft-drink dispute with the US.
The issue is a 20-percent tax that Mexico slapped on beverages made with imported sweeteners such as high-fructose corn syrup and sugar made from beets. Drinks made with Mexican cane sugar are exempt.
Before the tax was imposed in 2002, Mexico was a top market for high-fructose corn syrup from the US. However, the tax made it too expensive to use the corn sweetener in soft drinks, and now the US share of
Mexico mulls appeal of WTO corn syrup tax ruling
Mexico is mulling whether to appeal a World Trade Organization ruling in favor of the United States in a dispute over taxes on drinks made with high-fructose corn syrup, while seeking other ways to slow imports of the sweetener.
Mexico has in the past said it would contest the WTO ruling, but has yet to launch an appeal.
"One possibility is that we will not appeal the decision, depending on whether we have an alternative that could be as effective" in restricting imports, said Hugo Perez Cano, of Mexico's trade negotiating team.
In June,
WTO panel: Mexico unfairly imposed tariffs
A World Trade Organization panel ruled Tuesday that Mexico had unfairly imposed antidumping tariffs on U.S. rice, rejecting a Mexican appeal against a previous ruling.
Mexico imposed the tariffs on U.S. white long grain rice in June 2002, claiming it was being sold in Mexico at unfairly low prices, damaging Mexican producers.
U.S. officials raised the issue before the WTO a year later. In its ruling, the appellate body said Mexico must bring its measures into line with WTO rules, confirming an earlier WTO ruling from June 2005.
U.S. Trade Representative Rob Portman hailed the decision as
Mexico Senate rejects beverage tax plan
Mexico's Senate has rejected a proposal to eliminate the 20 percent tax on beverages made with high-fructose corn syrup, a tax that was ruled discriminatory by the World Trade Organization.
The Senate voted 47-31 late Thursday against the bill, which had already passed the lower house of Congress.
Congress imposed the levy in 2002 at the height of a dispute between Mexico and the United States over sweeteners that pitted Mexican sugar producers against U.S. corn refiners.
More: businessweek.com
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The ruling by a federal appeals court panel in San Francisco overturned immigration court rulings, the BBC reports.
The panel said the 45-year-old would also have problems finding AIDS treatment.
Jose Boer-Sedano came to the United States in 1990 on a six-month visa and now works as a waiter in San Francisco.
He lived here seven years until immigration authorities began deportation proceedings.
Boer-Sedano told the court that he has been virtually kicked out of his family for being gay.
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Mexico cheers backing of immigrant bill by panel
Mexicans cheered the proposal approved Monday by the Senate Judiciary Committee to legalize undocumented migrants and provide temporary work visas, and credited huge marches of migrants across the United States as the decisive factor behind the vote.
President Vicente Fox of Mexico said the vote was the result of five years of work dating to the start of his presidential term in 2000, and puts Mexico one step closer toward the government's goal of ''legalization for everyone" who works in the United States.
''My recognition and respect for all the Hispanics and all the Mexicans
U.S.-Mexico trade route takes detour
Patience. Persistence. Frustration. Those words come to mind when considering the plight of U.S. apple growers as they attempt to retain their foothold in Mexico, where local growers have accused them of “dumping†Red Delicious and Golden Delicious apples.
While U.S. growers have tried in court and through negotiations to reach an equitable tariff agreement, they have met resistance, primarily from the Chihuahua State Fruit Growers Association, which filed suit eight years ago over the prices U.S. growers charged for Red and Golden Delicious apples.
For eight years, U.S. growers have been wrangling with the Mexican government
Mexico's problems now our own
When two Arizona Border Patrol agents were shot by suspected drug smugglers in June, the attack was widely believed to have been perpetrated by deserters from the Mexican military.
U.S. officials say highly trained former military servicemen calling themselves the Zetas have become deadly players in cross-border drug-trafficking, leaving a trail of bodies in their wake.
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Mexico will eliminate soft-drink tax
Mexico will eliminate a 20 percent soft-drink tax following a World Trade Organization ruling that it violated global trade rules, officials said Wednesday.
On Monday, a WTO panel rejected an appeal by Mexico and supported U.S. claims that Mexico was in breach of international law in imposing a 20 percent tax on drinks that are sweetened with anything other than cane sugar grown in Mexico.
The government plans to ask Congress to lift the tax, which was imposed in 2002 by legislators to protect the Mexican sugar industry.
"We are working to resolve the tax
Mexico Loses Appeal on Its Rice Tariffs
A World Trade Organization appeals panel ruled that Mexico had unfairly imposed anti-dumping tariffs on U.S. rice, rejecting Mexico's argument against a previous ruling.
Mexico imposed the tariffs on U.S. white long-grain rice in 2002, claiming that it was being sold in Mexico at unfairly low prices, damaging Mexican producers.
U.S. officials raised the issue before the WTO a year later. In its ruling, the appellate body said Mexico must bring its measures in line with WTO rules, confirming an earlier ruling.
More: latimes.com
