The country’s largest citrus grower organization has filed a summons with the U.S. Court of International Trade initiating an appeal of the International Trade Commission (ITC) decision to revoke the anti-dumping order against Brazilian orange juice processors.
“We continue to believe that the ITC made the wrong decision in this case for a number of reasons,” said Michael W. Sparks, executive VP/CEO of Florida Citrus Mutual. “There’s been extreme volatility in the marketplace since the revocation of the order providing clear proof that the order was doing what it was supposed to do – make the Brazilian processors play by the rules.”
“We will continue to consider our options to appeal and if necessary, we will file a new petition because we know the dumping isn’t going to stop.”
Some of the ITC’s findings that Mutual could challenge in an appeal include:
• Concluding there are significant supply constraints in Brazil
• Concluding the United States is not an attractive market for Brazilian juice
• Assuming that Brazil’s processing presence in the United States evens the trade playing field
• Ignoring the carbendazim issue’s affect on demand
• Relying almost exclusively on unsupported Brazilian pricing data
• Concluding that Brazilian imports do not affect on U.S. prices
• Focusing on grower revenue without considering increased costs
• Failing to properly consider the effects of revocation on growers
Since the Commission revoked the anti-dumping order on March 14 many of their assumptions have been severely undermined; OJ futures prices have declined by 40 percent, the effects of carbendazim have significantly reduced consumer demand and Brazilian shippers expect to have carbendazim-free concentrate back on the market in less than six months.
In addition, Brazilian production outstripped the Commission’s estimate by 7 percent for both the current season and next year. A week after the vote, the Brazilian industry reported anticipated inventories 40 percent higher than predicted by the Commission.
An anti-dumping order covering the major Brazilian orange juice processors was put in place in 2006. Dumping is defined as selling product for less than “normal value,” including prices below the cost of production. It can severely harm domestic producers by subsidizing cheaper U.S. sales with higher priced foreign sales destabilizing world markets. If a domestic industry can prove foreign producers are dumping then anti-dumping deposits can be imposed by the U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC).
The DOC annually reviews sales and if the dumping stops, the deposits are refunded. If the dumping continues then the company(s) forfeits the duties or is required to pay additional duties. For more information on dumping, please go to Mutual’s website at http://www.flcitrusmutual.com/industry-issues/trade/dumpingcase.aspx.
The Florida citrus industry creates a $9 billion annual economic impact, employing nearly 76,000 people, and covering more than 550,000 acres. Founded in 1948 and currently representing nearly 8,000 grower members, Florida Citrus Mutual is the state’s largest citrus grower organization. For more information, visit www.flcitrusmutual.com.