After a year of negotiations, Argentine citrus companies, including some from Tucumán, signed an agreement with the US Department of Commerce that could mitigate the sector's crisis in 2024. On January 17, around 15 exporting companies signed an amendment to the 2016 agreement, confirming the extension of the suspension of the anti-dumping duty investigation on Argentine lemon juice, in force since 2007. This agreement seeks to avoid problems with the new US government.
The agreement included a revision of marketing prices for lemon juice entering the US, applying a 15% reduction in the value per gallon for the 400 LPG reference category, going from $12.48 FOB to $10.50 FOB. José Carbonell, head of the Argentine Citrus Federation (Federcitrus), said that the agreement establishes prices for around 20 types of lemon juices, mainly in the standard 400 LPG category, which implies a reduction from $2,760 to about $2,200 per ton in the spot market.
The negotiation was initiated at the request of California producers, which supported the dialogue with Argentine companies to update the values of the different categories, as they were outdated. Without the agreement, the investigation would have been activated and provisional anti-dumping duties set in 2007 would have been applied, with levies ranging from 58% to 113.52% of the spot value, depending on the defendant company.
In 2024, the citrus crisis has been accentuated by the loss of hectares of lemon trees, drops in global values, and the growth of world competition. Tucumán exported more than $89 million in citrus and almost $100 million in fruit and vegetable juices, with lemon juice standing out. In 2023, citrus exports to the US totaled 94,000 tons, but exports to the European Union fell to 35,000 tons.
The anti-dumping process began in 2006 with an investigation of companies in Tucumán. In 2007, the procedure was suspended before definitive duties were applied, establishing a reference price for imports. Dumping is defined as exporting a product at a lower price than the local market, and anti-dumping measures seek to protect domestic production by applying an additional import duty.
The world market has grown with the participation of countries such as South Africa and Brazil, which led to a new agreement in 2016. This agreement has determined the trade scenario for Tucumán companies until January 2025. In 2024, a price adjustment mechanism was incorporated if there is a 10% variation up or down, allowing for price revisions.
Source: lagaceta.com.ar