US allocates PH over 145,235 MT sugar quota

The US government has granted the Philippines 145,235 metric tons of in-quota raw cane sugar allocation for fiscal year 2023, the office of the US Trade Representative (USTR) announced. .

The USTR said that 1,117,195 metric tons raw value (MTRV) in total in-quota sugar allocation may enter the US market under the tariff-rate quotas (TRQs) on imported raw cane sugar and sugar-containing products for Fiscal Year (FY) 2023 (October 1, 2022 through September 30, 2023). The USTR announcement followed after the Foreign Agricultural Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced the establishment of the in-quota quantity for raw cane sugar for FY 2023 on July 11, 2022.

The sugar volume allocation is the minimum amount to which the US committed under the World Trade Organization (WTO) Agreement. The sugar in-quota allocation is being divided among sugar producing countries.

After the Dominican Republic, which has in-quota allocation of 189,343 MTRV, the Philippines got the second biggest allocation.

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.

The allocations of the raw cane sugar WTO TRQ to countries that are net importers of sugar are conditioned on receipt of the appropriate verifications of origin. Certificates of quota eligibility must accompany imports from any country for which an allocation has been provided.

With respect to the in-quota quantity of 64,709 metric tons (MT) of the TRQ for imports of certain sugar-containing products maintained under Additional U.S. Note 8 to Chapter 17 of the HTSUS, USTR is allocating 59,250 MT to Canada. The remainder, 5,459 MT of the in-quota quantity, is available for other countries on a first-come, first-served basis.

Other countries granted with sugar in-quota allocation by the US include Argentina, Australia, Barbados, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Congo, Costa Rica, Cote d’lvoire, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Swaziland, Fiji, Gabon, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, India, Jamaica, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mexico, Mozambique, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Peru, South Africa, St. Kitts & Nevis, Taiwan, Thailand, Trinidad & Tobago, Uruguay, and Zimbabwe.