Blanched Quick Frozen Garlic Not 'Heat Treatment,' Still Subject to AD Duties, Commerce Says

Quick frozen garlic imported by Trinity that undergoes a blanching process is not considered heat treated and is still subject to antidumping duties on fresh garlic from China (A-570-831), Commerce said in a July 21 scope ruling. But Trinity’s quick frozen diced garlic and garlic puree are not subject to the AD duty order, said the agency in another scope ruling issued the next day.

Though the scope of the AD duty order on Chinese garlic “contains an exclusion for garlic that is 'prepared or preserved by ... heat processing,’” the blanching process necessary for Trinity’s garlic cloves to be frozen does not qualify, Commerce said. According to the preliminary determination from the original AD duty investigation on garlic, the exemption was added to “'exclude further processed products,’ like roasted garlic,” Commerce said.

Citing language in a previous scope ruling it issued on garlic cloves blanched before pickling, Commerce said the “garlic is cleaner, and perhaps does not grow as a result of the use of blanching, but the garlic is essentially the same product both before and following the blanching process.’”

On the other hand, as it did in another recent scope ruling involving minced garlic from a different company (see 2107010087), Commerce found that the AD duty order does not include garlic that has been reduced in size from cloves, so does not cover Trinity’s diced garlic and garlic puree.