U.S. producer requests a surcharge on lemon juice imported from Brazil

Ventura Coastal, a U.S. lemon juice producer, has petitioned the country’s Department of Commerce and the International Trade Commission to impose anti-dumping fees on lemon juice imported from Brazil and South Africa. The company claims unfair competition.

The petition, which was presented on December 29, 2021, accuses Brazilian lemon juice producers of selling the product below its actual market value in the United States, culminating in a dumping margin of 555.22%. This figure is almost five times higher than the South African dumping, estimated at 128.61%.

As a result, Ventura Coastal is asking American authorities for an anti-dumping fee to be applied on lemon juice coming from Brazil at “sufficient rates to compensate for the unfair prices” and, ultimately, reduce competition.

“Joe Biden’s administration continues to rely heavily on trade defense measures; Brazilian producers are still being investigated, and this has an impact on the competitiveness of Brazilian exports in the American market”, notes Lucas Queiroz Pires, a lawyer specialized in international trade at the firm Alston & Bird, in Washington. “Trade defense mechanisms make Brazilian exports more expensive and, in practice, can make the entry of certain products unfeasible, making more room available for American product and often products of other origins”.

Last year, Brazilian honey was also accused of dumping by two American producers associations in the United States, its main market abroad. The dumping margin identified by the petitioners was 114.5%. After investigating, the provisional surcharge applied on November 18 on Brazilian honey varied from 7.89% to 29.61%.

As of now, the targeted Brazilian exporters are the Louis Dreyfus Company Brazil and Citrus Juice Eireli, both based in São Paulo. Brazilian exports of lemon juice to the US, which were 23.6 million liters in 2020, grew to an estimated 66.9 million liters in 2021. Consequently,  revenue increased from US$ 11.8 million in 2020 to US$ 36.7 million last year.

Investigations are set to start soon. US authorities may come up with a preliminary dumping determination in early June and a final one in October.

The new complaint coincides with an expansion in the volume of Brazilian lemon exports. Data from the Foreign Trade Secretariat (Secex) show that Brazil shipped 126.4 thousand tons of lemons and limes between January and October, earning US$ 108.1 million. Volume and revenue grew 6% compared to 2020.

Check the chart below to see a track record of Brazilian lemon exports from 2020 onwards. Data are from DataLiner:

Brazilian Lemon Exports | Jan 2020 to November 2021 | TEU

Source: DataLiner (click here to request a demo)

In December, Brazilian producers expected to increase their exports to meet demand from Europe. Globally, demand for the product has grown, and the expectation is for an average increase of 1.2% per year until 2030.

In 2019, the biggest lemon producers were India, Mexico, and China. The three countries together corresponded to 42% of the world’s total production. Recently, the fastest production growth has taken place in South Africa.

The US is the world’s largest importer. It has imported 793,000 tonnes in 2019. Americans spent $692 million on purchases that year, meaning 18% of global lemon juice imports.

Source: Valor Econômico

To read the full original article please visit:

https://valor.globo.com/agronegocios/noticia/2022/01/04/produtor-americano-pede-sobretaxa-contra-suco-de-limao-do-brasil.ghtml

Sharing is caring!