(Washington, D.C.) (April 21, 2021) – Today, a coalition of domestic beekeepers, including the American Honey Producers Association (“AHPA”) filed petitions alleging that imports of certain raw honey from Argentina, Brazil, India, Ukraine and Vietnam are being sold at less than fair value (i.e., dumped) in the United States. Imports from those countries accounted for over 90 percent of imports of raw honey in 2020. The petitioners have alleged dumping margins as high as 207 percent:
| Country | Margins Alleged in Petition |
| Argentina | 16.83 to 22.60 percent |
| Brazil | 114.50 percent |
| India | 34.22 to 99.16 percent |
| Ukraine | 10.56 to 94.84 percent |
| Vietnam | 207.08 percent |
The petitions were filed concurrently with the United States Department of Commerce (“Commerce Department”) and the United States International Trade Commission (“USITC”) in response to surging volumes of aggressively-priced non-raw honey imports from the five countries over the past several years. Unfairly traded imports of raw honey from Argentina, Brazil, India, Ukraine and Vietnam accounted for over 90 percent of all raw honey imports during 2020.
Domestic beekeepers have suffered under the pressure of low-priced, dumped imports in the form of depressed and suppressed prices and lost revenues. Low priced imports from the subject countries are underselling the domestic beekeepers by significant margins and have depressed and suppressed domestic beekeepers raw honey prices over the last several years. The domestic industry has suffered lost revenues under the pressure of low-priced imports from the five countries, injuring the financial health of domestic beekeepers. Without trade relief, the condition of domestic beekeepers will continue to deteriorate, threatening the domestic production of this important agricultural product and beekeepers’ livelihoods.
The product covered by the petition is raw honey. Raw honey is honey as it exists in the beehive or as obtained by extraction, settling and skimming, or coarse straining. Raw honey has not been filtered to a level that results in the removal of most or all of the pollen. The subject products include all grades, floral sources and colors of raw honey and also includes organic raw honey. Excluded from the scope is comb honey or honey that is packaged for retail sale (e.g., in bottles or other retail containers of five (5) lbs. or less).
Next, the Commerce Department will determine whether to initiate the antidumping duty and countervailing duty investigations within 20 days of the petition filing and will announce that decision on May 12, 2021. The USITC will reach a preliminary determination of material injury or threat of material injury within 45 days of the petitions’ filing. The entire investigative process will take approximately one year, with final determinations of dumping and injury likely occurring by the Spring of 2022. Any antidumping duties that are ultimately imposed are intended to offset the amount by which the product is sold at less than fair value, or “dumped,” in the United States.
Within the next few days AHPA members will receive questionnaires from the USITC, which must be filled out and returned immediately to the AHPA’s counsel, Kelley Drye and Warren and Georgetown Economic Services. They will file the questionnaire responses for AHPA members.
