Canada’s (legal) mushroom industry is booming, and the U.S. is starting to get a little jealous.
What happened: The U.S. International Trade Commission opened an anti-dumping investigation into Canada’s mushroom industry after a major American grower complained that Canadian producers are flooding U.S. grocery aisles with artificially cheap ’shrooms.
- The Americans say that Canadian growers are being subsidized by Ottawa; the Canadians argue the only thing they’re guilty of is growing better, lower-cost mushrooms.
- Canada’s fresh mushroom sector exported $487 million worth of product last year, with $482 million of that sent to the States.
Catch-up: Unlike their U.S. counterparts, Canadian growers have spent 20 years investing in high-tech systems from Europe, like climate-controlled warehouses and perfectly engineered compost. That efficiency has helped Canadians grab a huge chunk of the U.S. market.
- The mushrooms that Canada exports now dwarf what it imports from the U.S., creating a $460 million trade surplus that’s jumped 250% in the last 10 years.
Why it matters: Agricultural products are now Canada’s largest manufacturing revenue source, and more than 60% of exports head to the U.S. With the White House taking aim at everything from mushrooms to dairy products, the industry’s dependence on the American market could prove to be costly.—LA