The United States International Trade Commission has launched an investigation into mushoooms from Canada after six American companies complained about unfair competition.
Giorgio Fresh Co., the lead company, said Canadian fresh mushroom imports are heavily subsidized, low-priced and outcompeting the national industry.
But there is no evidence that Canadian mushrooms are gaining customers because of unfair trading practices, said the Canadian mushroom industry association.
Canadian growers are successful because they are more often better at growing high-quality fresh mushrooms, said Canadian company South Mill Champs.
“Frankly, the U.S. growers haven’t invested in modernization,” Lewis Macleod, chief executive officer of Pennsylvania-based South Mill Champs, whose operations are split evenly between the U.S. and Canada told the Globe and Mail. A number of operations across the U.S. have invested, he said, but not at the same rate.
Canadians exported $487 million worth of fresh mushrooms last year, $482 million of them to the U.S. That’s after steady increases xince 2-15 when it was $155 million.
The U.S. national mushroom associations – the Mushroom Council and American Mushroom – were not involved in the petition and refused to comment on its members’ legal actions before a U.S. federal agency.
