Now that China announced that it could retaliate against the United States by imposing tariffs in response to the commercial war started by the Trump administration, the agricultural leaders of California stated: "Farmers never win in a commercial war."
The groups that represent almonds, citrus fruits, and pistachios are observing this situation with interest and concern, as they could be affected by the potential 15 percent new tariffs on their exports to China.
The United States exported more than 69 million pounds of open shell pistachios to China in the 2016/17 marketing year, according to APG.
Joel Nelsen, the president of California Citrus Mutual, said China was their third largest buyer of fresh citrus fruits, mainly of oranges and Navel lemons, behind Canada, and South Korea. A possible trade war on US agriculture could have a negative impact on California citrus.
In addition, China could increase tariffs on a list of 100 different US food products, including almonds, nuts, pistachios, dates, avocados, various citrus fruits, grapes, watermelons, apples, peaches, plums, strawberries, cherries, prunes, apricots, and even wine, the vast majority of which are grown in California.
The US started the trade war with olives and could now pay the consequences. If the Chinese market closes its doors via an increase in tariffs, the European market could be flooded with a surplus of products, which would be disastrous for Spain.
Source: agroinformacion.com