Mexico to Levy Tariffs on U.S.-Made Fructose

Mexico’s Commerce Ministry said it decided to levy definitive tariffs on imports of U.S.-made fructose after finding U.S. producers sold it below cost and were damaging the country’s sugar industry. Fructose is a liquid sweetener made from corn that is used by the soft-drink industry as a substitute for sugar. The decision comes six months after the government imposed preliminary dumping tariffs on U.S.-made fructose. That ruling came after the government began an investigation in February to determine whether U.S. producers of fructose were engaged in unfair trade practices by “dumping” fructose on the Mexican market. The probe was launched after the Mexican Sugar and Alcohol Industry Chamber filed a complaint that the U.S. product was entering Mexico at prices below estimated production costs.