Turkish exporters first grabbed a foothold in the U.S. market in 2012 when a devastating late frost wiped out 90 percent of Michigan’s tart cherry crop. Between 2016 and 2018, Turkish dried tart cherry imports more than tripled to 686 metric tons, according to a fact sheet published by the U.S. International Trade Commission.

In late April, a Michigan-based coalition of tart-cherry growers and processors sought tariff relief from the federal government, claiming that Turkish dried tart cherry exporters were dumping product in the United States at prices below the cost of production, aided by Turkish government subsidies and policies. A similar effort in 2018 led to a small ‒ one-half cent per liter ‒ tariff on cherry juice imported from Turkey.

The Dried Tart Cherry Committee asked the ITC and Department of Commerce to impose tariffs of more than 600 percent on the dried cherry imports.

In a preliminary decision in early June, the ITC concluded there was “reasonable indication” to believe the U.S. dried tart cherry suffered injury from the Turkish imports.

That triggered a second investigation by the Department of Commerce focusing on whether there is reasonable indication of evidence supporting the allegation of unfair subsidies and trade policies from Turkey, the world’s largest tart cherry producer. The commerce department decision is expected by Sept. 20.

If it supports the unfair trade practice contentions, the United States could immediately begin collecting bond payments from importers equal to projected tariffs in advance of results of a final outcome which could drag into May 2020.

Elizabeth Drake, a Washington, D.C., attorney representing the Michigan-based coalition, said the petition has already had an effect.

“Those imports have all but disappeared since we filed our petition,” Drake, a partner with the firm Schagrin Associates, told Bridge. “I think on the subsidy we have a very strong case. On the industry side, there’s no doubt the industry is suffering.”

Among the 10 U.S. importers of Turkish dried cherries cited in Drake’s petition, most are on the coasts. But one is based in Traverse City ‒ Great Lakes International Trading, Inc. On its website, the company lists Michigan dried cherries, as well as Turkish cherries, among the products it sells, though on Aug. 14 the website showed the Turkish cherries were out of stock.

Verne Powell, the company’s president, told Bridge the imported Turkish cherries he sells are unpitted sweet cherries (not dried tart cherries), which he said he sold for bird feed.

“This is completely different from the pitted/infused tart cherries that are sold by the Michigan tart cherry industry and, so far as I know, this item is not produced anywhere in North America,” Powell wrote in an email.

For one Traverse City grocer committed to selling local (defined as within 100 miles of Traverse City) and organic products, tracking what’s on store shelves or in freezers can be challenging. Oryana, a member co-op grocery store, checked the store’s various cherry products for origin and found a package of frozen sweet cherries marked as having fruit from either Turkey or Serbia.

“We are going to change that out for a U.S.A. product,” said Steve Nance, Oryana’s general manager.

Most tart cherries, the kind Michigan specializes in, are processed and sold as frozen product in supermarkets, or preserved fruit fillings, or as dried cherries or cherry juice. Michigan ranks only fourth among states in the sale of sweet cherries, the fruit sold fresh at farm stands along Lake Michigan’s coastline from Benton Harbor to Charlevoix in July and August.

Tim Brian, president of Smeltzer Orchard Co. in Frankfort, is a member of the Dried Tart Cherry Committee and testified at a Washington hearing last spring on the tariff petition. Like most people in Michigan’s cherry business, he hails from a family deeply rooted in the fruit. In 1872, according to the company website, William Smeltzer planted one of Michigan’s first cherry orchards.

Today, the company buys all kinds of fruit from nearby growers ‒ blueberries, apples, cranberries, strawberries as well as cherries, which he processes as frozen and dried. Some are covered with chocolate or yogurt.