Anti-Dumping Lawsuit Update

One of the biggest updates from ABF at the Annual Conference was an update on the extensive efforts being made to take on fraudulent honey in the market. The American Honey Producers Association along with Sioux Honey Association filed a petition through the International Trade Commission. (ITC)

Through this pursuit, U.S. Beekeepers are taking on foreign countries who are knowingly, or unknowingly importing fraudulent honey into the U.S. market. The term “dumping” refers to goods sold below cost that negatively impact the market value of our domestic commodity.

Based on the most recent decision in December, 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.

 

Import Statistics:

Additional resources:

Letters & Updates from AHPA & ABF:

We Still Need Your Support!

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 Federal Register, 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.

On June 4, 2021 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.

We truly appreciate all of the donations that we have received to cover legal fees.

The good fight isn’t over yet, and we still need your support.

To donate to the Antidumping Fund, please contact
Cassie Cox: cassie@ahpanet.com
281-900-9740

Or donate on our secure website: https://www.ahpanet.com/donations-1

From the American Beekeeping Federation

We need your help! We have an urgent need to fight against unfair honey prices for our domestic honey producers.

The International Trade Commission has ruled that U.S. Honey Producers have been injured by low imported honey prices (an estimated 381 million pounds of honey valued at $300 million was imported in 2020 alone). Adding insult to injury, these honey imports are often adulterated with “extenders” that affect the quality of the product which negatively reflects on those of us who take pride in our pure U.S. honey.

We at the American Beekeeping Federation (ABF) recognize the urgent need to get behind the anti-dumping lawsuit, and we are asking for your financial support!

Would you consider a donation in one of the following amounts?

• $.05/pound of your 2020 production – suggested for commercial beekeepers
• $.12/pound of your production if you averaged over $4.00 per pound – suggested for serious sideliner beekeepers
• $300 which is equivalent to the cost of setting up one hive – suggested for small-scale/hobbyist beekeepers
• Or a donation of your choosing: no gift is too large or too small!

To win this lawsuit, we need to make a strong, distinctive statement. Our message is that We will NOT stand for our market to be adversely impacted by cheap or adulterated honey. We are a small community doing a big job. We all need to do the RIGHT thing to:

• protect the integrity of honey
• establish fair market trade
• get a fair price for U.S. Honey
• educate the public to “know where your honey comes from”

You can donate online to the Honey Defense Fund at: http://bit.ly/HoneyDefenseFund.

Thank you for your continued support of the ABF and the industry it represents.

P.S. Successful Cases Tend to increase Market Prices by Eliminating Unfair Trade. After the domestic industry filed and won an Anti-dumping and Countervailing Duties case against honey imports from China and Argentina in 2000-2001, domestic raw honey prices for white honey steadily increased from
$0.56/pound to $1.40/pound by 2003. While it is not possible to predict the exact price impact of the case, there is every reason to believe that the new case should have a similar positive impact on domestic raw honey prices. Please donate today to support the anti-dumping/fair trade lawsuit!