(June 4, 2021) – Today, the U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC) unanimously determined that there is a reasonable indication that unfairly traded imports of raw honey from Argentina, Brazil, India, Ukraine, and Vietnam are injuring the U.S. industry producing raw honey.
 
Today’s unanimous decision means that the ITC will continue to investigate the injury inflicted on the U.S. raw honey producers by low-priced imports, and the U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC) will investigate the extent to which imports from the five countries are being sold below fair value in the U.S. market.  

“Today’s affirmative preliminary determination of injury is incredibly important to American beekeepers,” said Alan Luberda of Kelley Drye & Warren LLP, counsel to the U.S. raw honey producers.  “Dumped imports of raw honey from Argentina, Brazil, India, Ukraine, and Vietnam have been underselling domestic raw honey by substantial margins for several years, depressing domestic prices and making it difficult for U.S. beekeepers to earn a living.  This is a critical step in obtaining much-needed relief for U.S. beekeepers.”

Background
 
On April 21, 2021, the American Honey Producers Association (AHPA) and Sioux Honey Association (SHA) filed petitions with the ITC and DOC for relief from dumped imports of raw honey from Argentina, Brazil, India, Ukraine, and Vietnam.  The American Beekeeping Federation (ABF) also supports the trade cases.
 
On May 18, 2021, the DOC published a notice initiating the investigations in the FederalRegister, with estimated dumping margins of 9.75 to 49.44 percent for Argentina, 83.72 percent for Brazil, 27.02 to 88.48 percent for India, 9.49 to 92.94 percent for Ukraine, and 47.56 to 138.23 percent for Vietnam. 
 
DOC is scheduled to issue preliminary determinations of dumping in mid-November, at which point preliminary duties will go into effect, and importers will be obligated to begin paying cash deposits at the time of importation.