Portland Maine News

U.S. Senator Angus King is leading a bipartisan, bicameral group of lawmakers with Senator Susan Collins and Representatives Chellie Pingree and Jared Golden calling on the Biden Administration to expand markets for Maine blueberries and reduce barriers facing farmers who export the fruit. In a letter written by Senator King with Congressmen Larsen (D-WA) and Valadao (R-CA) and co-signed by the entire Maine Delegation, the lawmakers urge U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai to expand overseas sales of Maine wild blueberries by working with Japanese counterparts to eliminate harmful frozen blueberry tariffs.

The 2019 U.S.-Japan Trade Agreement eliminated tariffs – a form of import tax – on fresh and dried blueberries, but frozen blueberries continue to face a 6.0 percent or 9.6 percent tariff rate, depending on sugar content. Japan lifted tariffs on frozen blackberries, raspberries and strawberries, leaving frozen blueberries as an outlier in terms of market access. The U.S. share of the Japanese frozen blueberry import market has declined year-over-year following the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership’s (CPTPP) entry into force, from 21 percent in 2018 to 15 percent in 2022.

“Increasing exports to Asia is an important way to support U.S. agricultural industries and grow jobs in the United States, and blueberries are an important commodity, with exports worth over $245 million in 2021. We urge you to work with your Japanese counterparts to support U.S. farmers by eliminating Japan’s frozen blueberry tariffs,” wrote the lawmakers. “Japan’s tariffs on frozen blueberries have made American exports non-competitive… As a result, American frozen blueberry exports to Japan have been declining relative to those from top competitors like Canada and the European Union (EU) who enjoy tariff-free trade with Japan for all forms of blueberries.”

“We urge you to pursue a technical amendment to the U.S.-Japan Trade Agreement to ensure U.S. frozen blueberries receive the same duty-free market access in Japan as fresh or dried blueberries, as well as other frozen berries,” the lawmakers concluded. “Doing so will allow U.S. farmers to compete on level terms with other blueberry exporting countries and would help save and revitalize market opportunities for U.S. berry farmers.”

“Maine produces nearly 100% of US produced wild blueberries. Ninety-eight percent of those are fresh frozen, locking in freshness to create the best frozen blueberry money can buy, frozen wild blueberries,” said Eric Venturini, Executive Director of the Maine Wild Blueberry Commission. “Our industry welcomes the possibility of selling our premium frozen fruit to the discerning Japanese consumer and we thank Senators King and Collins and Representatives Pingree and Golden for their efforts to remove this unnecessary barrier to US exports of frozen blueberries.” 

The Maine Congressional Delegation has long advocated for the Maine wild blueberry industry and its farmers. Amid the pandemic, they joined a bipartisan group in successfully urging the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to make blueberry growers eligible for the $16 billion in agricultural assistance provided by the CARES Act. In 2020, the Maine Delegation urged the U.S. Trade Representative to strengthen trade protections for Maine’s wild blueberry producers and frozen blueberry processors.  

Joining the authors and the Maine delegation on the letter were Senators Patty Murray (D-WA), Maria Cantwell (D-WA), and Raphael Warnock (D-GA) along with Representatives Rick Allen (R-GA-12), Jack Bergman (R-MI-01), Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR-01), Salud Carbajal (D-CA-24), Lori Chavez-DeRemer (R-OR-05), Jim Costa (D-CA-21), Suzan DelBene (D-WA-01), John Duarte (R-CA-13), Val Hoyle (D-OR-04), Bill Huizenga (R-MI-04), Kevin Kiley (R-CA-03), Derek Kilmer (D-WA-06), Doug LaMalfa (R-CA-01), John Moolenaar (R-MI-02), Dan Newhouse (R-WA-04), Jimmy Panetta (D-CA-19), Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (D-WA-03), Andrea Salinas (D-OR-06), Hillary Scholten (D-MI-03), Kim Schrier (D-WA-08), Austin Scott (R-GA-08), Elissa Slotkin (D-MI-08), Adam Smith (D-WA-09), Jeff Van Drew (R-NJ-02) and Rudy Yakym (R-IN-02). 

The lawmakers’ full letter to USTR Tai and the USDA can be found here or below.

Dear Ambassador Tai:

Increasing exports to Asia is an important way to support U.S. agricultural industries and grow jobs in the United States, and blueberries are an important commodity, with exports worth over $245 million in 2021. We urge you to work with your Japanese counterparts to support U.S. farmers by eliminating Japan’s frozen blueberry tariffs. 

The U.S.-Japan Trade Agreement, which entered into force in 2020, eliminated Japan’s tariffs on fresh and dried blueberries, but omitted frozen blueberries from this relief. U.S. frozen blueberry exports to Japan continue to face a 6.0 percent or 9.6 percent tariff in Japan, depending on sugar content. In this agreement, Japan also lifted tariffs on frozen blackberries, raspberries and strawberries, leaving frozen blueberries as an outlier in terms of market access. 

Japan’s tariffs on frozen blueberries have made American exports non-competitive compared to countries that are members of the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) and can freely trade with Japan in all blueberry products. As a result, American frozen blueberry exports to Japan have been declining relative to those from top competitors like Canada and the European Union (EU) who enjoy tariff-free trade with Japan for all forms of blueberries.

The U.S. share of the Japanese frozen blueberry import market has declined year-over-year following CPTPP from 21 percent in 2018 to 15 percent in 2022. Conversely, Canada has maintained its large market share, accounting for 57 percent of total import market share as of 2022. In the same time period, the EU has more than doubled its market share to nearly 9 percent. 

This inequality has been unaddressed for nearly four years, threatening business relationships between American farmers and importers in the third-largest international market for U.S. frozen blueberries. 

We recognize that the trade pillar of the administration’s signature trade initiative in the region, the IndoPacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF) is focused on non-tariff barriers, and we are not requesting a new negotiating phase of the U.S.-Japan Trade Agreement. Frozen blueberries represent a relatively small share of bilateral trade—less than 0.1% of the value of all U.S. agricultural exports to Japan in 2022. But for producers in our states, Japan is a critical market, and the tariff on American frozen blueberries threatens the viability of their businesses and the stability of the domestic market for both fresh and frozen blueberries. 

We urge you to pursue a technical amendment to the U.S.-Japan Trade Agreement to ensure U.S. frozen blueberries receive the same duty-free market access in Japan as fresh or dried blueberries, as well as other frozen berries. Doing so will allow U.S. farmers to compete on level terms with other blueberry exporting countries and would help save and revitalize market opportunities for U.S. berry farmers.

Original source can be found here