New Antidumping Duty Petition on Fresh Winter Strawberries From Mexico

Introduction

On December 31, 2025, a coalition of domestic producers filed a petition with the U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC) and the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC), seeking the imposition of antidumping (AD) duties on imports of fresh winter strawberries from Mexico. Petitioners, located in Florida, include Astin Strawberry Exchange, BBI Produce Inc. (dba Berry Boss), Grimes Produce Company, Mathis Farms, Simmons Farms Inc., Sizemore Farms Inc., Sweet Life Farms, Ultra Farms and the Florida Strawberry Growers Association. Rarely seen in trade remedy cases, a state-level government agency, the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, is also listed as a petitioner.

The scope covers all fresh and chilled winter strawberries from Mexico harvested or entered into the United States during the period October 1 through March 31. The petition claims that winter strawberries are mostly grown east of the Mississippi River and sold almost exclusively to East Coast markets. Allegedly, unfairly traded imports are concentrated in this region. Due to the regional nature of the U.S. market, the petition requests a “regional industry” analysis, a rarely used provision of the Tariff Act that focuses the ITC’s injury analysis on the effect of subject imports on U.S. producers in only a region of the country, not the entire United States.  The petition defines the regional industry to include Alabama, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia and Wisconsin.

Under U.S. law, a domestic industry may petition the government to initiate an AD investigation into the pricing of an imported product to determine whether it is sold in the United States at less than fair value (i.e., “dumped”). Additional duties can be imposed if DOC determines that imported goods are “dumped,” and if the ITC makes an affirmative determination with respect to injury by reason of imports.

If the ITC and DOC make preliminary affirmative determinations, U.S. importers will be required to post cash deposits in the amount of the AD duties for all entries on or after the date DOC’s preliminary determination is published in the Federal Register. The preliminary AD rates can change in the final DOC determination, especially if foreign producers participate fully in the investigation.

Scope

The physical characteristics of the covered products, which define the scope, are as follows:

The merchandise covered by this investigation is all fresh and chilled winter strawberries (“winter strawberries”) from Mexico harvested or entered during the period October 1 through March 31.

Winter strawberries may be stemmed or de-stemmed, imported in bulk or loose form, or may be imported in individual containers packaged for retail sale. The scope of this investigation includes all winter strawberries, whether or not organic, and irrespective of color, grade, shape, size, or packaging. Subject merchandise may be cleaned, coated, washed, waxed, inspected, subjected to metal detection, and/or vacuum cooled prior to importation.

Winter strawberries covered by this investigation are classified under the following subheadings of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS), according to the season of importation: 0810.10.4040 and 0810.10.4080. Although the HTSUS numbers are provided for convenience and customs purposes, the written description of the scope of the investigation is dispositive.

Foreign Producers and Exporters of Subject Merchandise

A list of foreign producers and exporters of fresh winter strawberries, as identified in the petition, is provided in Attachment 1. 

U.S. Importers of Subject Merchandise

A list of the U.S. importers of fresh winter strawberries, as identified in the petition, is provided in Attachment 2. 

Alleged Margins of Dumping

Petitioners allege a dumping margin of 116.69%.  DOC generally assigns duties at this alleged dumping rate to exporters that fail to cooperate during the investigations.

Potential Trade Impact

According to the petition, nationally, imports of fresh winter strawberries from Mexico totaled $975 million in 2024. Of that amount, $748 million (or 77%) was imported into the Eastern region of the United States, as defined in the petition.

Estimated Schedule of Investigations

For questions about this update, please contact the following authors or any of the lawyers in our trade remedies practice.