Posted on 01/22/2020 5:13:18 AM PST by gattaca
US cherry growers want level playing field with foreign exporters
DETROIT – Cherry growers in the United States have lost a fight to institute tariffs against Turkish dried cherry exporters.
The United States International Trade Commission (ITC) ruled Tuesday that the domestic cherry industry “is not materially injured or threatened with material injury by reason of imports of dried tart cherries from Turkey.” That’s despite the the U.S. Department of Commerce’s determination on Dec. 6 that dried cherries were being subsidized by the Turkish government and sold in the U.S. at less than fair value.
This is of particular concern to growers in Michigan, the country’s primary tart cherry producing state.
“This decision is unacceptable and ignores the facts: Turkish exporters have decimated Michigan’s cherry industry. I am outraged that the ITC has chosen to ignore its own previous determinations and side with Turkish exporters over Michigan cherry growers,” said Michigan Sen. Gary Peters in a news release Tuesday. “Michigan cherry growers spent millions of dollars in an already difficult year to elevate this issue. By making this stunning reversal, the ITC is undermining its own mission, disregarding the overwhelming evidence and is letting trade abusers off the hook. Michigan’s cherry growers can out-compete anyone on a level playing field, and I’m going to keep fighting for our cherry industry."
Michigan Sen. Debbie Stabenow said she is “outraged” by the ITC’s decision.
“Michigan cherry growers have enough challenges without having to deal with foreign competitors who cheat and violate our trade laws,” said Sen. Stabenow in a news release Tuesday. “I am outraged that the International Trade Commission has failed to hold Turkey accountable after investigations clearly showed egregious violations of the rules. Senator Peters and I will continue to fight hard to level the playing field for our cherry growers.”
The National Cherry Festival is held annually in Traverse City, Mich. According to the Traverse City Record Eagle, a report that details the ITC’s findings won’t be available until Feb. 18.
I buy cherries from a company called Cherry Republic in Michigan. They have the best cherries so I’ve been following this story.
Michigan tart cherry preserves....mmmm.
L
The article failed to note that the Turkish cherries are suspected to induce impotence in men older than 26
Probably leftists wanting to sabotage Michigan economy in an election year. After Porto Rico I’m suspicious of everything.
Absolutely ridiculous that we are importing cherries.
And importing them from Turkey, yet.
Paying for our own demise, in so many ways.
I hope this situation comes to the attention of Mr.Trump. What an opportunity to intervene on behalf of our farmers, exclude an enemy(yes), stop terrorist activity(you know some of that money goes there), be a patriot, and eat some of the best cherries ever from a gorgeous part of the USA!
Talk about winning.
Mrs. AV
I bought holiday gift boxes from that company this year they were a huge hit. I seems like Debbie S ‘s many years in Congress aren’t paying off anymore.
I grow my own cherries. Bing and sour cherries. It’s a lot of work putting nets over the trees to keep the birds from decimating my crop. But it’s worth it.
Gary Peters is up for reelection....
I am in Traverse City. Every year they shake the tarts on the ground and leave them to rot. This is because of some quota that they have to meet. So they trash them and the Ag dept comes and make sure they are left on the ground.
The farmers are ripping out the tart trees and replacing them with sweet cherries or another crop. It takes years beore you can get a harvest from a tree so ripping them out hurts the farmers.
The cherries from Traverse City MI area and the Door Peninsula area of WI make for the best pie cherries in the world.
Tart and sweet.
“I am in Traverse City. Every year they shake the tarts on the ground and leave them to rot.”
Yup, I don’t feel sorry for those bastards for the waste they cause every year. Poor people have tried to get some of those cherries they leave rot and they refuse to let them.
It takes a special kind of a-hole to treat their poor neighbors the way the Traverse City cheery growers do theirs.
If they gave them away it violates some treaty and they can go to jail. So be mad all you want just not at the grower who has to follow the law. Your anger is pointed at the wrong people.
All they have to do is to keep the cherries from going to market. Some cherries going to poor locals won’t get to market.
After reading all the comments, it seems there is something going on here that is not readily apparent about the laws in connection with trade on these cherries. What’s really going on here? Is this a scheme to make sure the consumer pays the highest possible price? Is there something about the imported cherries that suggests they should not be marketed here? I think most consumers just want to know the truth, which seems to be hard to find.
“While it may be convenient to assert that growers cannot donate the surplus cherries, that simply is not the case,” he said. “There is a process by which surplus, aka excess, tart cherries can be donated to charitable organizations. Under the procedures of the order, growers can, in fact, arrange for their excess tart cherries to be donated to such charities.”
https://www.michigancapitolconfidential.com/22820
See #17
Since when do Democrats take responsibility for failures? I thought in this world it was always republicans who are at fault even when they weren’t in charge.
Around here asparagus piracy is a strange but real thing. You damned near have to stand over it with a shotgun if you want to get a stalk.
Those cherry farmers have big orchards and put in long days the way it is. They cant possibly patrol on a regular basis and with our farmers getting older the eyes and ears just dont work like they used to.
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