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Chinese Honey not Dumped per se

2011
01.15

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.

This entry was posted on Saturday, January 15th, 2011 at 1:46 pm and is filed under news. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

One Response to “Chinese Honey not Dumped per se”

  1. chuckarama says:
    January 15, 2011 at 6:28 pm

    I couldn’t agree more with you Mr Taylor. I am a fierce believer in the free market myself. I read in all the major honey journals about how we MUST unite and enforce anti-dumping laws and tariffs, all the time. I disagree.

    A tariff MAY be valid if the home country is subsidizing, ie dumping tax money into the industry, giving it an unfair advantage. If that truly is the case, and there is not proof it is, what do we care if the Chinese people subsidize our honey purchases. Aren’t we always telling people how good honey is for them and wishing they would consume more? Cheap honey will do that. That kind of subsidy is never sustainable in the long run anyways. And you will never find it for sale in your local farmers markets etc either. That niche will be reserved still for the local producer.

    If in the short run, competition will drive some beekeepers out of business, the cost of pollination will increase, drawing in new beekeepers and easing the pollination costs again. So the pollination industry isn’t at real risk either, in the long run; there would be short term pressure on the pollination market, because it has already been artificially interfered with by this tarif and hasn’t been allowed to make those adjustments yet. Those that will be effected are individuals who can’t find a way to make their business competitive enough to survive. This is sad reality, but necessary in both life and capitalistic competition. And the hobbiest beekeeper won’t really be effected, as they typically aren’t in it for the same reasons as the professional keeper and packager.

    Now honey quality, as you’ve noted is another issue. Varroa came from Asia. Nosema Ceranae likewise comes from Asia. I have seen speculation that the new iridovirus may have come from Asia as well, but there is of course no proof of it yet. If honey is imported with another devastating disease and left out where a hive can discover it (and they will) then that would obviously be a terrible thing. Or if Chinese honey had harmful concentrations of chemicals or substances, that is not desirable either. But that is just a general food safety issue not unique to honey, but any imported food and hygiene products.

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