U.S. Department of Commerce Finds Dumping and Subsidization of Imports of Ripe Olives from Spain



(June 12, 2018) - - Today, the U.S. Department of Commerce announced the affirmative final determinations in the antidumping duty (AD) and countervailing duty (CVD) investigations of ripe olives imports from Spain.

Commerce determined that exporters from Spain have sold ripe olives in the United States at 16.88 to 25.50 percent less than fair value. Also, Commerce determined that Spain is providing countervailable subsidies to its producers of ripe olives at rates ranging from 7.52 to 27.02 percent.

In 2017, imports of ripe olives from Spain were valued at an estimated $67.6 million.

The petitioner is the Coalition for Fair Trade in Ripe Olives, the individual members of which are Bell-Carter Foods, Inc. (CA), and Musco Family Olive Co. (CA).

The United States International Trade Commission (ITC) is currently scheduled to make its final injury determinations on July 24, 2018. If the ITC makes affirmative final injury determinations, Commerce will issue AD and CVD orders. If the ITC makes negative final determinations of injury, the investigations will be terminated and no orders will be issued.

Enforcement of U.S. trade law is a prime focus of the Trump Administration. Commerce has initiated 118 new antidumping and countervailing duty investigations since the beginning of the Trump Administration. This is 59 percent more than the 74 initiations in the last 508 days of the previous administration.

The AD and CVD laws provide U.S. businesses and workers with an internationally accepted mechanism to seek relief from the harmful effects of dumping unfairly priced and unfairly subsidized imports into the United States. Commerce currently maintains 449 antidumping and countervailing duty orders which provide relief to American companies and industries impacted by unfair trade.

Click HERE for a fact sheet on today’s decision.

The U.S. Department of Commerce’s Enforcement and Compliance unit within the International Trade Administration is responsible for vigorously enforcing U.S. trade laws and does so through an impartial, transparent process that abides by international law and is based on factual evidence provided on the record.

Foreign companies that price their products in the U.S. market below the cost of production or below prices in their home markets are subject to AD duties. Foreign companies that receive financial assistance from foreign governments that benefits the production of goods from foreign companies and is limited to specific enterprises or industries, or is contingent either upon export performance or upon the use of domestic goods over imported goods, are subject to CVD duties.



Courtesy: U.S. Department of Commerce