MEXICO CITY, July 3 (Reuters) - The governments of Mexico and the United States on Monday formally signed an agreement brokered last month to make changes in their bilateral sugar trade, ending a spat that threatened to cloud the upcoming renegotiation of a broader trade deal.
Officials from the U.S. Commerce Department, the Mexican Economy Ministry and the Mexican Chamber of Sugar and Alcohol Industries signed the accord that will avert the imposition of duties on U.S. imports of Mexican sugar, the Mexican Economy Ministry said in a statement.
Mexico made concessions to the U.S. sugar industry to reach a deal, eager to avoid a stand-off before the two nations plus Canada sit down to renegotiate the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) later this summer.
The neighbors had been embroiled in a sugar dispute since U.S. farmers and a cane refiner petitioned the U.S. government in 2014 to protect them from alleged dumping of sugar from Mexico. (Reporting by Adriana Barrera; Editing by Christian Schmollinger)