Florida strawberry growers win preliminary ruling on Mexican winter imports

WASHINGTON, DC (August 19, 2026) – On August 18, 2026, the U.S. Department of Commerce (Commerce) announced its preliminary affirmative determination in the antidumping duty (AD) investigation of fresh winter strawberries from Mexico.

Commerce determined that all companies subject to the investigation had sold strawberries at less than fair value (i.e., “dumped prices”) in the United States.

Commerce’s decision follows a February 2026 determination by the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) which unanimously held that there was a reasonable indication that imports of Mexican winter strawberries had materially injured the domestic industry. The investigations will now proceed to final determinations by both Commerce and the ITC.

“Commerce’s preliminary affirmative determination marks a significant step forward for obtaining relief for American winter strawberry growers against unfairly priced imports from Mexico,” said Daniel Pickard, International Trade & National Security practice group leader at Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney.

“This is only the preliminary calculation of dumping, but the U.S. industry is one step closer to reaching a fair and level playing field,” according to Pickard.

The next major step in Commerce’s investigation will be the auditing of the sales and cost records of the major Mexican producers, a process called “verification.” Commerce will then update the dumping margin calculation based on the verification results and the arguments of the parties. Pickard indicated that it is not uncommon for dumping margins to increase in the final determination.

The preliminary determination establishes the initial duty rates for the investigation. Once the determination has been published in the Federal Register, Commerce will instruct U.S. Customs and Border Protection to begin suspending liquidation and collecting cash deposits on entries of winter strawberries from Mexico. The investigation is expected to conclude in the beginning of 2027.

However, after the antidumping order is issued, the parties will be able to ask for ask for a retroactive recalculation of the actual duties owed.

This “administrative review” of the final calculation of duty liability for Mexican strawberries may not be determined until 2029 or later and which can be applied retroactively to imports that entered the United States after Commerce’s preliminary determination.

Editor’s note: The headline has been changed to more accurately reflect that the growers are all Florida-based.

The Strawberry Growers for Fair Trade, which filed the petition, is an ad hoc trade association consisting of Astin Strawberry Exchange (Plant City, FL); BBI Produce, Inc. dba Berry Boss (Dover, FL); Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (Tallahassee, FL); Grimes Produce Company (Plant City, FL); Mathis Farms (Plant City, FL); Simmons Farms, Inc. (Plant City, FL); Sizemore Farms, Inc. (Plant City, FL); Sweet Life Farms
(Plant City, FL); Ultra Farms (Wimauma, FL); and the Florida Strawberry Growers Association (Dover, FL).