WTO: Mexico erred in soft-drink dispute
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GENEVA (AP)--The World Trade Organization ruled March 6 that Mexico violated global trade rules in a soft-drink dispute with the United States.
A WTO panel rejected a Mexican appeal, supporting 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.
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 recently, the U.S. share of the market is about 6 percent of pretax levels, according to the U.S. trade representative's office.
The dispute over sugar and corn sweetener has cost U.S. corn refiners $944 million annually, according to the Washington-based Corn Refiners Association.
Date: 3/23/06
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