British Columbia is making a financial contribution to help blueberry growers fight a looming trade investigation in the United States on imported berries, including from Canada.

US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer requested an investigation by the US International Trade Commission in September after reports that domestic farmers are hurt by cheaper imported berries.

British Columbia's Minister of Labor and Economic Recovery Ravi Kahlon says the province will give Ottawa about $ 80,000 for economic research to strengthen Canada's legal strategy before a hearing next month.

Kahlon says that the vast majority of Canadian fresh blueberry exports to the United States come from about 800 blueberry growers in British Columbia, while overall, Canada is one of the top importers of American fresh blueberries.

The trade commission could recommend tariffs or quotas if it finds that U.S. blueberry growers have been injured or are under threat of injury from imports, but Kahlon says he is optimistic about a positive outcome as participation from Canada in the US berry market has declined in recent years.

The first hearing in the investigation is scheduled for January 12.

“The irony of all this is that Canada, overall, actually imports more blueberries than we export to the United States. It just so happens that BC is the main producer,” Kahlon said in an interview Wednesday.

A report from Lighthizer's office shows that Peru is the top exporter of blueberries to the United States by value. Its berry exports were worth around $ 12,6 million in 2014 and increased to more than $ 485 million in 2019.

Chile and Mexico ranked second and third last year, while Canada's blueberry exports to the states came in fourth, valued at nearly $ 116 million. That's a little less than $ 102 million five years earlier.

'There is no injury from the Canadian perspective'

Anju Gill, executive director of the BC Blueberry Council, says the cost of responding to trade investigations can exceed a million dollars, so BC and federal governments are supporting industry organizations while a legal team prepares a case. .

“We think there are no injuries from a Canadian perspective,” Gill said, adding that there hasn't been a marked increase in Canadian berries in the States.

In a letter to Lighthizer in September, Maine members of Congress advocated for blueberry growers north of the border, saying that the state's blueberry processing industry relies on bulk imports from Canada.

Processors convert excess perishable berries into frozen products ready for distribution and sale, the members explained.

“These bulk imports do not harm Maine's domestic wild blueberry growers, rather these operations allow many of Maine's blueberry businesses to survive,” their letter read.