U.S. wields tariffs at Indian, RI mushrooms

U.S. wields tariffs at Indian, RI mushrooms

WASHINGTON (AFP): The U.S. government is about to impose punitive duties on imports of preserved mushrooms from India, Indonesia and China, according to Commerce Department documents released here.

The department says mushrooms from those countries are being sold in the United States at unfairly low prices.

The duties will range from six percent to 244 percent and are designed to offset the advantage allegedly gained by the Asian exporters from having "dumped" their mushrooms on the market at prices below what the department considers fair.

Action by the department could come later this week.

The decision comes after a key finding announced on Wednesday of last week by another US trade body, the International Trade Commission (ITC), that the US preserved mushroom industry had indeed been harmed or threatened by the dumping practices.

The Commerce Department said it would order the punitive tariffs to take effect seven days after the ITC finding, which would be Wednesday.

The planned imposition of duties caps a campaign launched in January 1998 by an alliance of seven US preserved mushroom producers known as the Coalition for Fair Preserved Mushroom Trade.

They had charged that their businesses had been jeopardized by cheap imports from India, Indonesia, China and Chile.

Final anti-dumping duties of more than 140 percent were ordered against Chilean imports last November.

Lawyers representing all four countries had argued that if the US preserved mushroom industry is suffering it is because of competition from the fresh product, now increasingly preferred by consumers.

Preserved mushroom imports from India, Indonesia and China were valued at US$82 million in 1997, according to the Commerce Department, with China accounting for $43.8 million.

The ITC said imports from the three countries in 1997 amounted to 55.2 percent of US consumption.

Hardest hit by the anti-dumping orders are two Indian companies, Alpine Biotech and Mandeep Mushrooms, each of which has been assigned punitive tariffs of 243.87 percent.

The orders cover preserved mushrooms packed in cans or glass jars in water, brine or butter. They may be imported whole, sliced, diced or as stems and pieces.