New antidumping duty petition: Raw honey from Argentina, Brazil, India, Ukraine and Vietnam – consequences for exporters and US importers

On April 21, 2021, the American Honey Producers Association and the Sioux Honey Association filed a petition with the US Department of Commerce (DOC) and the US International Trade Commission (ITC) alleging that raw honey from Argentina, Brazil, India, Ukraine and Vietnam is being sold in the United States at less than fair value.

The petitioners seek the imposition of antidumping (AD) duties on imports of raw honey from those countries. They allege dumping margins ranging from 16.83 percent to 22.60 percent for Argentina, 114.5 percent for Brazil, 34.22 percent to 99.16 percent for India, 10.56 percent to 94.84 percent for Ukraine and 207.08 percent for Vietnam.

Under US law, a domestic industry can petition the government to initiate an AD investigation to determine whether an imported product is sold in the United States at less than fair value (ie, dumped). AD duties may be imposed if the DOC determines that imported goods are dumped and if the ITC determines that the domestic industry is materially injured or threatened with such injury by reason of the subject imports.

Products covered by the petition

The merchandise subject to the petition is raw honey – that 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 color of raw honey as well as include organic raw honey.

Comb honey or honey that is packaged for retail sale (eg, in bottles or other retail containers of five pounds or less) are not covered by the petition.

The products covered by the petition are currently classified under the following Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS) subheadings: 0409.0000.05, 0409.0000.35, 0409.0000.45, 0409.0000.56 and 0409.0000.65.

The total value of US imports of raw honey from Argentina, Brazil, India, Ukraine and Vietnam was $381.3 million in 2020.

Foreign producers and US importers of raw honey

The petition identifies 76 exporters and 51 US importers of raw honey from Argentina, Brazil, India, Ukraine and Vietnam. See the lists of exporters and importers from the petition.

Estimated schedule of investigations

AD proceedings are conducted pursuant to a strict statutory time schedule. Below is an estimated schedule for the AD investigations on raw honey from Argentina, Brazil, India, Ukraine and Vietnam.

4/21/2021 – Petition filed

6/7/2021 – ITC preliminary injury determination

9/28/2021 – DOC preliminary AD determinations, if not postponed

11/17/2021 – DOC preliminary AD determinations, if fully postponed

4/8/2022 – DOC final AD determinations, if both preliminary and final determinations are fully postponed

5/23/2022 – ITC final injury determination, if DOC determinations are fully postponed

5/30/2022 – AD orders published

Consequences for exporters and US importers

US AD investigations may result in the imposition of substantial duties in addition to other already applicable duties and tariffs.  If the ITC and DOC make affirmative preliminary determinations, US importers will be required to post cash deposits corresponding to the ad valorem AD duty rates determined for the subject merchandise on or after the dates when the DOC’s preliminary determinations are published in the Federal Register.  In certain circumstances, such duty deposit requirements can go into effect retroactively, 90 days prior to the date of publication.  The AD duties will remain in effect if the DOC and ITC make affirmative final determinations.

The DOC calculates specific AD margins for certain individual producers and exporters selected for examination.  Such rates often may be much lower than those alleged in the petition.  However, producers and exporters that do not participate in the investigations may be subject to substantially higher rates.  Duties imposed at these higher rates may force exporters to stop shipping to the United States and importers to cease importation of subject merchandise.  Thus, interested parties – including foreign producers, exporters and importers – may consider having a strategy for addressing AD investigations, including possible participation.

Under the statutory time schedule for AD investigations, the first decision – the preliminary ITC determination whether there is a reasonable indication that the US industry is materially injured or threatened with material injury by reason of the subject imports – must be made within 45 days after the filing of the petition – which in this case is June 7, 2021.  An ITC hearing (ie, a public conference) is held about 21 to 23 days after the filing date.  As a result, agency staff work – including the issuance of questionnaires to interested parties – begins almost immediately.  Thus, quick action is encouraged in order to understand the specific implications of these developments and to prepare and implement a pertinent strategy.

To learn more, please contact any of the authors.