Quick Summary – Chinese honey was found to be not dumped, but was causing ‘material injury to an industry in the United States’.
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I’ve heard it dozens of times “Dumped Chinese Honey” and went to the root of the report. I’ve pulled the US International Trade Commission report of 2007 & 2009 that reviews the existing tariff on Chinese and Argentine Honey. I just want US Beekeepers to understand the political landscape this caused, and the artificial honey prices they are enjoying.
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What the US ITC is:
“The mission of the Commission is to (1) administer U.S. trade remedy laws within its mandate in a fair and objective manner; (2) provide the President, USTR, and Congress with independent analysis, information, and support on matters of tariffs, international trade, and U.S. competitiveness; and (3) maintain the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTS).”
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I interpret this Commission to be a non-independent, fact finding commission that is subject to political influences from Congress.
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The 2007 report itself is 92 pages and remarkably easy to read considering. Found at:
http://www.usitc.gov/publications/701_731/pub3929.pdf
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And the 2009 report is http://www.usitc.gov/publications/701_731/pub3369.pdf
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The American Honey Producers Assc. and the Sioux Honey Assc. filed the original complaint in 2000. On the initial investigation half the board found China was dumping, half found they weren’t. (See footnote 3)
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‘Anti-dumping duty order’ is what is needed to impose a tariff, if I understand the process. It does not mean the item was dumped.
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‘Dumping’ is a nebulous word. I believe the public thinks ‘dumping’ means selling for less then you make it for, which of course make little economic sense. In this case, there was a 1995 US-Chinese agreement of selling above a pre-determined reference price point. Specifically:
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“It also provided that these imports had to be sold at a reference price, which was 92
percent of the average of the honey unit import values for all other countries during a specified six-month
period.”
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If I interpret all this in context, the US honey packers could not compete with its two largest competitors and successfully lobbied for a tariff. They only targeted the two largest competitors to the US. If I extrapolate, if that tariff ever comes down, they have done little to make themselves competitive again.
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As a good economist, I interpret that the current honey price is artificial, thus not reflective of the true free market price in an open world economy.
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No other country has leveled a protectionist tariff on Chinese honey. The EU did temporarily ban it on a quality issue. The US tariff is $2.63/kg on Chinese honey.
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And to head off the other side of the coin, Chinese honey quality is not at issue here. That is a different item.
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