The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has exempted Morocco from tariffs that came into effect yesterday, Wednesday, on products containing high levels of sugar (exceeding 65 percent of dry weight).
According to the decision published in the Federal Register, Canada, Mexico, Jordan, Singapore, Chile, Australia, Morocco, El Salvador, Honduras, and Nicaragua are excluded from these tariffs, which range from 11.3 cents to 23.5 cents per kilogram of such products.
The source noted that these tariffs are imposed on imported products containing more than 65 percent sugar (by dry weight), which may include candies, certain beverages, cocoa products, and some processed foods.
The decision was based on the “Uruguay Round Agreements” and the World Trade Organization’s agreement on agriculture that grants countries the right to impose protective measures against imports that exceed certain volumes.
The same source stated that after “reviewing the volume of products containing more than 65 percent sugar by dry weight as described in the U.S. Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS), the Director of the Foreign Agricultural Service determined that the annual trigger level for activating safeguard measures has been reached; therefore, a special safeguard tariff will be imposed on products containing more than 65 percent sugar by dry weight.”
