The U.S. Apple Association commends the Trump Administration for the removal of Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum on Mexico and Canada and the successful negotiation of provisions going forward to protect agriculture from being drawn into future trade disputes involving metals.

“We welcome the return of duty-free access to Mexico, our largest export market, and continued duty-free access to Canada, our number two market,” says Jim Bair, President of the U.S. Apple Association. The two countries combined represent a half-billion-dollar market for U.S. apple growers.

Photo: Rainier Fruit, Gala apples

Year-to-date shipments down
“This is a welcome relief, especially for the Washington market,” says Andy Tudor with Rainier Fruit. “I was just looking at year-to-date apple shipments out of Washington and the numbers to Canada and Mexico are down compared to the same time last year. Volume shipped to Canada is down 500,000 boxes and volume to Mexico is down 2.3 million boxes.”

Over the last three years, Washington state annually shipped an average of 3.5 million boxes of apples to Canada by end of May. Shipments to Mexico came down from 8.7 million to 6.4 million compared to this time last year. Mexico is down 1.1 million galas, 700,000 Golds and 545,000 Red Delicious. Canada prefers Gala, Granny Smith and Fuji, both conventional and organic.

US apple continues that removal of the Section 232 tariffs and ratification of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) have been the organization’s top priorities. “Our efforts are now focused on securing congressional support and ratification of the USMCA, which will provide increased stability and predictability going forward.”

For more information:
Andy Tudor
Rainier Fruit Company
Ph: +1 (509) 698-0717
andyt@rainierfruit.com
www.rainierfruit.com

Tracy Grondine
U.S. Apple Association
Ph: +1 (703) 442-8850
tgrondine@usapple.org
www.usapple.org