The US Department of Commerce has sanctioned the must imported from Argentina after complaints of “dumping” and “subsidies” against Fecovita and Cepas Argentinas, for which they will pay up to more than 30% of the tariffs to enter that market.
This sanction will have an ivery important impact for Mendoza and San Juan, main provinces producing the product. The fact is that the United States is the main market for the domestic product and accounts for 40% of Argentina’s exports in both value and volume.
There are three types of wort, but the main and best-selling wort is concentrated wort, which is used in juices, sodas, syrups, baby food, pharmaceuticals, sweets, candies, and sweeteners.
The investigation into “subsidies” was launched in May by the US Department of Commerce, on the basis of the possibility that the Argentine state has favored the national must, in unfair competition with its international competitors. On the other hand, a parallel case against the private sector has also been opened for “dumping” (selling below production costs).
In September, in the context of the “subsidies” case, provisional tariffs of 3.71% were established for Cepas Argentinas, 7.15% for Fecovita and 5.5% for the rest of the companies.
But, during this week, it was confirmed that more tariffs were imposed, in the “dumping” investigation, which could leave the Argentine product out of that market.
With the new sanction, the Fecovita cooperative, named in this case “Company 2”, will have to face an increase that exceeds 30% (7.16% for “contributions” and 23.7% for “dumping”). , a total tariff of 12.21% (8.5% for “dumping” and 3.71% for “subsidies”) was imposed on Cepas Argentinas, known in the case as “Company 1”. While the rest of the companies will have to pay 21.38%, since in September they had received 5.5% for subsidies, to which 15.88% has now been added.
Source: Clarin
