Chinese accused of dumping garlic

A San Francisco Chronicle editorial entitled, “The Chinese Garlic Wars” describes how the Chinese have come to dominate the U.S. garlic market in spite of a severe anti-dumping tariff of 376 percent. Many Chinese shippers are able to get around the tariff, they explained, by shipping their garlic through third countries such as Vietnam and Japan, then coming up with shipping papers that falsify the true country of origin. As a result, the California garlic market is shrinking. Through November of last year, Chinese garlic imports into the United States totaled 128 million pounds — up from 8 million in 2001, while California produced 88 million pounds in 2005 — down from 122 million pounds in 2001. “The importation of Chinese garlic has been so destructive that the number of garlic growers in California has dropped from 12 in 1999 to a mere four today” the Chronicle reported.