S. 453
S. 453 would impose a one-tenth of one cent duty on apple
and pear juice.
Current law. Apple and pear juice, not mixed and not
containing over 1.0 percent of ethyl alcohol by volume, whether
or not concentrated, are free of duty under the MEN rate set for
TSUS item 1654.15. This rate has been in effect since 1971. The
non-MFN rate is 5 cents per gallon.
House bill. A comparable bill, H.R. 2711, has not been the
subject of any action.
Senate bill. S. 453 would impose a MFN rate of duty of onetenth-of-one percent per gallon on imports of apple and pear
juice. It would be effective on the dat;e of enactment...
Administration position. The Administration opposes the bill
because it would break a tariff finding, thus requiring compensation, and it would set a dangerous precedent for circumvention
of the unfair trade law.
Background. This bill would eliminate the necessity for an
industry to show injury from subsidized imports of apple or pear
juice in a countervailing duty case. Under provisions of the
countervailing duty law, (Section 303 -(b) of the Tariff Act
of 1930) , countervailing duties may be levied OQ imported
Act of T930), countervailing duties may be levied on imported
articles that are free of duty only after it has fteen determined
by the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) that the imports
are causing or threatening injury to a domestic industry, and the
Commerce Department determines that the imports benefit from
subsidies. No such determination -has been issued in regard to
domestic apple or pear juice. If the legislation were enacted
and the imported products made dutiable, sectiom303(b) (1) of
the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. 1303(b)(1)) would govern any
future proceedings concerning the imposition of countervailing
duties. Under this section, because the articles would be
dutiable, no injury determination by the ITC would be required as
in the past before countervailing duties could be imposed on
imports from such suppliers as Argentina and South Africa.
(These countries are not signatories to the Subsidies Code nor
have they made comparable commitments. They are, therefore, not
entitled to the! benefits of Subsidies-^Code memberships-including
an injury determination in countervailing duty cases with regard
to the United States).
The apple growers, however, cannot now seek relief under the
countervailing duty laws against imports of juice because they do
not produce a "like product". S. 453 would not address this
problem.
Apples are produced in virtually every State of the United
States and are produced commercially in about 30 States. Apples
used for juice and cider are an important part of the U.S.
commercial crop. In 1981, nearly one-quarter of the total U.S.
fresh apple crop was used for juice and cider and more than one-
half of the total apples processed were used for juice and cider.
The leading apple producing States are also the leading producers
of apple juice and cider. In 1981, the principal producing
States in terms of quantity of apples used for juice and cider
were Washington, California, Michigan, New York, North Carolina,
Virginia, and Pennsylvania. In 1982 domestic production is
estimated to have been 164 million gallons.
During 1977-81, U.S. imports of apple and pear juice
increased irregularly from 31.9 million single-strength
equivalent gallons in 1977 to 81.6 million gallons in 1981.
During 1982, imports rose to approximately 103.8 million gallons,
an increase of about 20 percent over 1981. The value of the
annual imports during 1977-82 ranged from $25 million in 1977 to
$92 million in 1982 U.S. consumption.
Argentina has been the predominant supplier of imports of
apple and pear juice, although its share of the total declined
over the period as other sources increased their shares. During
1977-79, Argengina supplied 62 percent of the total imports under
item 165.15 (by quantity); during the period from January 1980 to
August 1982, Argentina's share declined to 47 percent of the
total supplied. For 1982, Argentina's share of total imports had
fallen to 39 percent.. Other major suppliers are the Republic of
South Africa, West Germany, Spain, Mexico, the Netherlands, and
New Zealand.