Argentina’s lemons scare the juice out of some California farmers

American consumers will save and some California farmers suffer if lemons from Argentina resume entering the United States, Agriculture Department officials say.

In a crucial round of a long-running and surprisingly tart trade dispute, the Agriculture Department on Tuesday reported that lifting the approximately 15-year-old ban on Argentina’s lemons would slice U.S. consumer prices by about 2 percent.

Though lemon producers and related businesses in California and Arizona would lose an estimated $10.9 million annually because of enhanced competition, the Agriculture Department predicted additional imports would yield a “net welfare benefit” for the United States.

“The majority of businesses that may be affected by the proposed rule are small entities, including lemon producers, packers, wholesalers, and related establishments,” the Agriculture Department said.

Before the proposal goes into effect, however, those same small entities, as well as agricultural giants, lawmakers and consumer advocates, will get their own chance to weigh in, during what’s likely to be an acidic public comment period that runs through July 11.

“We’re disappointed to see it put forth,” said Richard Pidduck, a Sunkist-affiliated lemon grower from Santa Paula, California. “We’ve been fighting pest and disease from overseas for a long time.”

The Obama administration proposal, formally published Tuesday, would allow the importation of lemons from northwest Argentina so long as they are produced and handled in a designated manner. The proposal spells out registration, monitoring, pest control and harvesting requirements, among others, that are intended to prevent pests and disease from hitchhiking into the United States.

An average of 18,000 metric tons of lemons from Argentina would likely enter the United States annually, primarily from April through August, according to the Agriculture Department. Total U.S. lemon production averaged 497,350 metric tons annually from 2008 to 2013.

Argentina’s annual lemon production is far greater, exceeding 1.4 million metric tons.

This fight has deep roots, which run through courthouses and Capitol Hill, and the long history suggests it’s not over yet.

“We’ll be pushing every lever available to us,” Pidduck said.

In 2000, the Clinton administration angered California farmers, and incited resistance from the state’s congressional delegation, by lifting an earlier ban on Argentina’s citrus. Some growers sued, and in 2001 the ban was reimposed.

Frustrated by what they viewed as rank U.S. protectionism, Argentina officials in 2012 filed a dispute with the World Trade Organization.

“The maintenance of this ban . . . lacks scientific justification and constitutes an import prohibition inconsistent with (trade) rules,” Argentina stated at the time.

The World Trade Organization took no action, but negotiations ensued between the United States and Argentina, resulting in the Agriculture Department’s proposal now being served up to the public.

“It’s too bad the Obama administration and USDA acquiesced to a request without a logical foundation,” Exeter-based California Citrus Mutual, an association of growers, declared in a statement. “We have no choice but to fight for our survival.”

This story was originally published May 10, 2016 at 4:21 PM with the headline "Argentina’s lemons scare the juice out of some California farmers."