US to Keep 377% Duty on Fresh Garlic from China
By wchung | 30 Apr, 2025

The US has again rejected Beijing’s calls to drop the high anti-dumping tariff it imposes on fresh garlic imported from China. Currently the duty adds a margin of 376.67% on fresh garlic products from China used for seasoning food.

Revoking the existing anti-dumping duty order on fresh garlic from China would be likely to lead to continuation or recurrence of material injury within a reasonably foreseeable time, concluded a unanimous vote last Thursday by the six commissioners of the US International Trade Commission (ITC).

The duty was first imposed by an order on November 16, 1994. Thursday’s vote was the third review of the order.

Despite the steep duty China remains the dominant source of imported garlic. The United States is the world’s largest import market for fresh garlic though it did not become a net importer of garlic until 1998. In 2010, the United States imported 164.4 million pounds of fresh garlic valued at $130 million of which the majority came from China. The United States also imported about 60 million pounds of dried garlic valued at $32.6 million, with China accounting for the majority. Other leading exporters of garlic are Mexico and Argentina.

Garlic imports from China increased between 2001 and 2004, while imports from Mexico began declining in 2001. Loophole have allowed China to avoid duties on fresh garlic produced by firms who were not involved in the 1994 anti-dumping order. Chinese exporters can also circumvent the 1994 order by shipping “like products” or using third countries to ship through. Also, there has been an increase in imports from China of dehydrated and processed garlic which is not covered under the 1994 order.

Most US garlic is produced in California, with Gilroy — which calls itself the garlic capital — serving as the center of the state’s garlic production and processing. In 2010 the US produced 370 million pounds of garlic, less than half of the 2.3 pounds of garlic per person consumed by Americans that year.

China has become the world’s leading garlic producer by far, harvesting 28.3 billion pounds in 2010. It is followed by India, South Korea and Russia, with the United States tied with Egypt for fifth place.