The Commerce Department has initiated an antidumping investigation into imports of fresh winter strawberries from Mexico, a move that could lead to new duties on the fruit, according to a Federal Register notice scheduled for publication Friday.
The petition was filed on New Year’s Eve by a Florida-based coalition operating as the Strawberry Growers for Fair Trade (SGFT), which includes individual produce companies, the Florida Strawberry Growers Association, and the state’s Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. The group contends that Mexican exporters are pricing winter strawberries unfairly low, squeezing domestic growers during the November-to-March season.
The case also adds a new test ahead of the July review of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, which guarantees tariff-free treatment for most agricultural trade among the three countries but does not shield members from antidumping cases under U.S. trade law.
The initiation press release cites an estimated dumping margin of 18.32 percent for Mexican winter strawberries. That rate could change as the investigation proceeds and Commerce collects detailed pricing and cost data from Mexican producers and exporters. The probe will examine the case both nationally and within a specific regional market.
