Florida orange growers and juice makers have asked the US federal government to impose tariffs on Brazilian processors, accusing them of selling orange juice in the US at 37 per cent less than production costs and therefore destabilizing the citrus market.
The Florida growers and processors also asked the US International Trade Commission and the Commerce Department to conduct an investigation into the dumping practices of four juice producers - Citrosuco, Cutrale Citrus Juices, Louis Dreyfus Citrus and Cargill Juice. The agencies are likely to make a decision in the coming months.
"As we see it, their goal is to atrophy the industry and further control and manipulate the market to the detriment of Florida citrus growers," said Andy LaVigne, vice president and chief executive of Florida Citrus Mutual, the state's largest citrus growers' group.
The growers’ petition also accused the Brazilians of selling pasteurized not-from-concentrate juice at 78 per cent below the cost of production.
This has, it is claimed, contributed to the decline by almost a third of on-tree prices for Florida juice oranges and an orange juice inventory buildup of more than 20 per cent, the petition claimed. The practice also forced some beleaguered Florida processors to close and suppressed the futures market from rising higher after hurricanes decimated this year's crop.
"It got to the point where we needed to take action," LaVigne said.
Because Florida's citrus crops were hit hard by hurricanes, Brazil is expected to export hundreds of millions of gallons of orange juice this season.
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