Washington, DC (March 6, 2006) – LAWFUEL – The Law News Network – The US Secretary of Commerce and Mexico’s Secretary of Economy will sign a historic trade agreement today, resolving a 16-year trade dispute over cement imports. Leading Mexican cement industry executives will also be present at the signing.
The agreement will resolve an antidumping dispute that involves administrative proceedings before the U.S. International Trade Commission and the U.S. Department of Commerce and appeals to NAFTA binational panels and a World Trade Organization panel. The agreement, which becomes effective on April 3, 2006, will lower duties on imports of cement from Mexico, and is expected to eliminate the antidumping order that permits such duties on March 31, 2009.
White & Case represents the Mexican cement producer, GCC Cemento, S.A. de C.V. and its U.S. affiliate, the importer and cement producer GCC Rio Grande, Inc. The other Mexican cement producer that has participated in the cement proceedings and is party to the agreement is CEMEX, S.A.
US Secretary of Commerce Carlos M. Gutierrez and Mexico’s Secretary of Economy, Sergio Garcia de Alba Zepeda, will sign the trade agreement at 1:30 PM Eastern Time at the US Dept of Commerce.
The agreement will help to alleviate severe cement shortages in the southern United States and ensure that the Gulf Coast communities have an adequate supply of cement to rebuild in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
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