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`U.S. International Trade Commission
`500 E Street, SW
`Washington, DC 20436
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`December 11, 2020
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`RE: Investigation No. TA-201-77 (Fresh, Chilled, and Frozen Blueberries)
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`Dear Chairman Kearns and Commissioners:
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`We write to express our support for the Commission’s ongoing Section 201 investigation regarding fresh, chilled,
`and frozen blueberries. The significant surge of imports of blueberries in recent years, the timing of such imports
`during U.S. harvest periods, the extremely low pricing of the imports, and the targeting of the U.S. blueberry market
`by foreign exporters has had a devastating impact on the domestic blueberry industry.
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`Current prices for blueberries are lower than they have been in years. Thousands of workers across the country have
`been laid off or not rehired. Scores of blueberry growers have gone out of business causing hardship on family
`farmers, economic harm to providers of packing and freezing services, and damage to the growers’ local
`communities and tax bases. Grower profits have declined or vanished as prices have plummeted and blueberries
`have been left on bushes because it is uneconomic to harvest. In short, the effects of the import surge have been and
`remain devastating to the domestic blueberry industry.
`
`Blueberry imports have surged from a number of countries, especially Chile, Peru, Mexico, Argentina, and Canada,
`rising nearly 62 percent from 423 million pounds in 2015 to 684 million pounds in 2019. The blueberry market in
`these countries has been developed to expand exports to the United States rather than for domestic consumption.
`The large number of countries providing those exports indicates that a global solution is warranted and necessary to
`provide relief to the domestic blueberry industry.
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`The United States is already heavily dependent on imports for a variety of important food crops and failure to control
`the surge of blueberries threatens to sharply reduce the number of U.S. blueberry growers and the volume of U.S.
`blueberries produced. Not only do these imports threaten domestic businesses and livelihoods, they also expose U.S.
`consumers to products from countries with poor or inconsistent product safety records.
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`As the Commission develops the evidentiary record in this case, we believe it will be clear that imports are a
`substantial cause of serious injury to the domestic blueberry industry. We urge the Commission to promptly make
`an affirmative determination in this case.
`
`Sincerely,
`
`
`Austin Scott
`Member of Congress
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` Al Lawson
` Member of Congress
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`Fred Upton
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