As promised, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer has issued a request to the International Trade Commission investigate whether increased imports of blueberries have caused, or threaten to cause, harm to domestic blueberry growers.
The request came a month after the Trump administration released a plan it said would protect U.S. growers of blueberries, strawberries, bell peppers and other seasonal crops from imports. The first step was requesting a Section 201 global safeguard investigation by the ITC on blueberry imports on Sept. 29.
The American Blueberry Growers Alliance, which describes itself as an “ad hoc association of blueberry growers from across the U.S,” applauded the late-September action.
“The flood of foreign imports of blueberries has caused significant damage to growers from coast-to-coast and across the heartland of this country,” Jerome Crosby, chairman of the American Blueberry Growers Alliance, said in a news release. “At a time when domestic food security is especially critical, this action is essential to preserve American farms, our families’ way of life and our communities, and we look forward to working with the ITC in conducting its investigation.”
Imports of fresh and frozen blueberries have increased from 423 million pounds in 2015 to over 684 million pounds in 2019, according to the blueberry group. Its members have lost market share and sales and have been forced to accept “unreasonably low prices due to the competing prices of foreign blueberries,” according to the release.
Soren Bjorn, president of Driscoll’s, said imports and increased domestic production have helped fill in blueberry supply gaps for U.S, retailers.
“I think one perspective on the potential of putting up trade barriers is that you are really punishing the people that went out and innovated and drove the progress for the whole industry,” he said.
Bjorn said U.S. growers should ask for help from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to help in advancing domestic blueberry yields and technology.
“I don’t see how a quota or duties help solve (the problem); you are just taxing the imports and sending that money to the Treasury Department,” he said. “You are better off going to the USDA and saying, ‘How about a little bit of help?’”
Domestic blueberry growers are taking action to support the investigation. According to a report from Oregon Public Broadcasting, blueberry commissions in Georgia, Florida, Michigan, California, Washington and Oregon have pledged more than a million dollars to advocate for U.S. trade action against imports. According to a news release from the California Blueberry Commission, it was “vital to vote in support of the Section 201 investigation in order to maintain the viability of the domestic blueberry industry.”
Next steps
The blueberry investigation was one of a number of actions announced in the Sept. 1 Report on Seasonal and Perishable Products in U.S. Commerce jointly released by the USTR, the USDA and the Department of Commerce.
“President Trump recognizes the challenges faced by farmers across the country, and today’s action is just one of a number of steps the administration is taking to support American producers of seasonal and perishable agricultural products,” U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, said in a news release.
The investigation request includes all fresh imported blueberries, including wild and cultivated varieties, and organic berries.
The ITC will publish notice of the start of the investigation and announce public hearings, according to the release.
The American Blueberry Growers Alliance said the ITC must make its determination of injury within 120 days of receiving USTR’s request, and this period may be extended to 150 days in extraordinarily complicated cases. The ITC will issue a report with its findings to the president within 180 days of receiving USTR’s request, according to the release.
If the ITC finds that imports are harming U.S. producers, the it will recommend one or more remedies Those remedies, according to the release, including tariffs, quotas and a combination of tariffs and quotas and other options. The president can then decide what actions to take.
The grower alliance expects the investigation will result in a remedy that “allows the domestic industry to recover from the harmful effects of surging blueberry imports,” according to the release.
Charles Hall, executive director of the Georgia Fruit and Vegetable Association, praised the USTR action in a news release.
“This is a great first step to saving the domestic produce industry in the Southeast and we fully support the USTR in Section 201 global safeguard investigation,” Hall said in the release. “It is critical that action is taken to keep domestic markets from being flooded by imports.”
The Packer’s Blueberry Coverage
