Imported fruits and vegetables have a growing presence in the United States, as anyone knows who has visited a produce department in recent years.

Consumers benefit in price, quality and variety. Producers, however, are much more mixed in their responses.

When you think about the advantages that foreign producers have over domestic ones, labor costs are the first thing that comes to mind, but not the only factor. New crop varieties have been developed that thrive in warmer climates, for example blueberries, previously considered a staple produced in the colder northern temperatures.

Richar smoley

"In the last five years alone, blueberry imports have increased by more than 62% from 423 million pounds in 2015 to 684 million pounds in 2019," notes the Michigan Farm Bureau.

“About 80 percent of US blueberry imports in 2019 came from three countries: Peru, Chile and Mexico,” the USDA Economic Research Service reported in September. "Increased imports from these countries are likely the result of increased cultivation of newer varieties and increased acreage devoted to blueberries by relatively new growers."

Some have argued that imports from southern hemisphere countries such as Chile and Peru do not overlap with US production and therefore do not harm domestic producers.

A press release from the recently formed Blueberry Coalition for Progress & Health, which advocates for imports, states: “About 80% of imported fresh blueberries enter the US with domestic blueberries. Given the lack of temporal overlap when the two sources of supply are present in the US market, domestic and imported blueberries look better as add-ons than substitutes. "

However, that is not the whole picture.

"In 2010, there was little overlap in the supply of blueberries from the US and abroad to the domestic market, and the periods between seasons had higher prices for growers," says the ERS report.

But “since 2010, the domestic and foreign blueberry seasons have been extended. Imports from Mexico in the early spring have risen, somewhat offsetting imports from Chile, while Florida and Georgia now harvest more in March and April. About 70 percent of import shipments in September and October 2019 were from Peru, increasing competition for producers in Michigan, Washington and Oregon, where shipments continue through October. "

In summary, although there are large blocks throughout the year where there is no real competition between crops in the United States and the southern hemisphere, there is an overlap.

Georgia blueberry grower Jerome Crosby says, “Up to 50 percent of my June crop was selling fresh, but last year I didn't sell anything fresh in June and I expect the same this year. This is a direct result of the influx of imports. American blueberry growers across the country, mostly small family farms like mine, are struggling to stay afloat as foreign imports breach our harvest windows."

Crosby is chairman of the executive committee of the American Blueberry Growers Alliance, which was formed last month to combat import threats.

How important is this overlap? We will find out. In September, the US Trade Representative, the Department of Commerce, and the USDA launched a request for a Section 201 investigation into the effects of blueberry imports on domestic growers.

The International Trade Commission will hold a hearing tomorrow and is expected to determine whether imports hurt domestic producers before February 11.

A Section 201 investigation, by the way, does not specifically examine unfair business practices such as dumping or unfair subsidies from foreign governments.

"Rather, an increase in imports, regardless of the reason for the imports, is by itself sufficient to justify a trade remedy," says the USTR.

Furthermore, a Section 201 investigation does not focus on a specific nation, but on the total effects of imports of a given product.

It would also be too simplistic to say that this dispute pits domestic growers against foreign growers, because several of the largest US blueberry growers have established acres overseas to provide customers with a year-round supply.

Joe Barsi, President of California Giant Farms BB #: 121061 of Watsonville, CA, and also a prominent member of the Blueberry Coalition for Progress & Health, says: “At California Giant Berry Farms, our mission is to deliver high-quality berries and care for our producers. We believe that the supply of contrasting imports has increased consumption in the US and has helped the health of the national blueberry industry. "

In the end, it would probably be more accurate to say that the dispute over blueberry imports pits growers who have domestic production only with those who have established a footprint abroad.