U.S. AGENCY RULES AGAINST BRAZIL ORANGE JUICE The U.S. International Trade Commission, ITC, voted to authorize the Commerce Department to impose anti-dumping duties on imports of Brazilian frozen concentrated orange juice. The ITC voted 3-2 in favor of the anti-dumping petition in its final ruling on the matter. Today's ITC ruling was consistent with the Commerce Department's final ruling of March 9, and activates an anti-dumping duty of 1.96 pct on imports of Brazilian frozen concentrated orange juice, Stephen Vastagh, ITC investigator said. The ITC found that Brazilian orange juice imports have injured U.S. producers. The Commerce Department had already ruled that the imports were unfairly priced, and lowered to 1.96 pct the anti-dumping margin that in a preliminary decision last fall had been set at 8.5 pct, Vastagh said. The U.S. government has been requiring bond to be posted on imports of Brazilian frozen concentrated orange juice since Commerce's preliminary ruling of last October 23, he said. Commerce had ruled that one major Brazilian producer -- Cutrale -- would be excluded from the anti-dumping duty. Brazilian imports account for about 40 pct of total U.S. supply, Vastagh said. Between December 1985 and November 1986, the United States imported the equivalent of 546 mln gallons of Brazilian orange juice worth 622 mln dlrs, he said. Currently, the United States requires a 35-cent per gallon tariff on orange juice imports, Vastagh said. An ITC spokesman said the agency would forward its final report on the anti-dumping case to Commerce by April 22. Commerce then will process the anti-dumping order and transmit it to U.S Customs, which will liquidate bond entries dating from Commerce's preliminary ruling and begin assessing duties, Vastagh said. He said about 12 Brazilian orange juice exporters, including three major shippers, would be affected by the decision.