On February 11, the US International Trade Commission (USITC) determined that fresh, refrigerated or frozen blueberries imported to the US are not considered as harm or threat to the domestic industry.

The Commission's decision was made in the context of an investigation that began on September 29, 2020, following a request from the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative.

The investigation ended with a 5-0 vote. Therefore, the Commission did not recommend a remedy to the US President.

If the vote of the Commission had been positive. The United States would apply trade barriers, such as tariffs on imports of blueberries, one of the star products of the fruit and vegetable industry in recent years.

Make a case through data

Although Agrometrics has not been part of the processes, our team was involved from the beginning to ensure that both parties had reliable information and data to build their arguments. To this end, our services were contracted by the International Blueberry Organization (IBO), making the data of its members available through an online application that we published on November 24, 2020.

At the same time, some of our clients recommended our services to Dr. Prusa, an economist with the Blueberry Coalition for Progress and Health. The Coalition is a trade group that opposes sanctions against imported blueberries. Dr. Prusa's efforts relied heavily on the data available through Agronometrics. In an article we published on January 12, 2021, we highlighted the findings that Dr. Prusa made.

Figure 5 - Lack of temporary offer overlap (2019)

(Source: USDA AMS Organic Volume (“Movement”) Data (Compiled by Agronometrics); adjusted Canadian data (APHIS undercount)

It became clear at the hearing that weekly data needed to be analyzed to understand the industry. The American Blueberry Growers Alliance, is an organization that is in favor of import restrictions. As post-hearing arguments, Capital Trade, hired by Allience, delved into trade data based on Agrometrics regarding USDA information. Some of their findings were featured in our article published on January 26.

Sources: United States and import volume of Agronometrics, based on the Weekly Movement reports from the US Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS). US import prices are Agronometrics, which is based on AMS weekly shipping reports, weighted by movement volume. All prices in dollars per pound

As mentioned at the beginning of the article, the arguments put forward by the Blueberry Coalition for Progress and Health ultimately won out. The five commissioners pointed out that blueberry imports do not cause damage to the national industry. At the moment it is all the information we know. In 5-6 weeks, the findings will be presented to the US President before being made public.