Farmers can’t afford additional costs, the groups say
By Diego Flammini
Staff Writer
Farms.com
Six national ag organizations wrote to Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo to warn about the potential harm tariffs on 2,4-D from China and India could have on U.S. farmers and beyond.
“Farmers are unable to incur additional costs in what is already a period of tight margins,” the July 12 letter says. “This case has the potential to forcibly cause farmers to cut budgets, which will impact their ability to have successful yields and will further disrupt the economic health of local economies.”
The letter signees are the American Soybean Association, National Corn Growers Association, National Association of Wheat Growers, National Barley Growers Association, National Sorghum Producers and the U.S. Durum Growers Association.
The concern stems from March when Corteva filed a petition with the International Trade Commission (ITC) seeking antidumping and countervailing duties on 2,4-D from the two countries.
The tariffs are necessary because those products are sold “at less than fair value and subsidized by the governments of China and India,” Corteva says.
These practices mean that the imported 2,4-D “gained market share at the expense of the domestic industry, and suppressed domestic prices to (a) significant degree,” the petition adds.
The alleged dumping rates for 2,4-D are 127.21 percent from China and 36.41 percent from India.
Dumping is the difference between the price in the foreign market and price in the U.S. market.
And the Department of Commerce could place those same values in tariffs on the products in question.
If the department finds “a dumping margin of 35%, U.S. Customs and Border Protection will collect a 35% duty on the entered value of the product at the time of importation into the United States in order to offset the amount of dumping,” a Department of Commerce fact sheet says.
In May, the ITC determined the imports could be detrimental to the U.S. and agreed to proceed with an investigation.
The ITC and commerce department are scheduled to publicize their rulings in September.
Whatever Secretary Raimondo’s department decides, the choices must be made with farmers in mind, the ag groups say.
“Given the multifold effects that duties on 2,4-D will have on farmers and the broader agriculture industry, we urge you to appropriately consider these impacts when calculating preliminary duties and choose the lowest possible rate to minimize harm,” they wrote.
“Affirmative findings in these investigations will cause farmers to be saddled with supply shortages and delays, significant financial strain, and lower yields. We implore you not to do not do this. The harm claimed by Corteva does not compare to the harm that America’s growers will incur should you apply high duties to these imports.”