Nov 2, 2021

USApple: Easing of tariffs on EU imports won’t help US growers

Jim Bair, president & CEO of the U.S. Apple Association, issued the following statement Nov. 2 regarding the proposed easing of U.S. tariffs on European Union imports.

“This weekend’s announcement that the Biden administration will ease tariffs on steel and aluminum imports from the European Union (EU) should be congratulated as good news. Hopefully this will be the first step in helping reclaim market share for other U.S. export-dependent farm commodities,” Bair stated.

“But for most U.S. apples the announcement will have little positive effect since the EU’s unscientific rules against even infinitesimally low residues of modern production compounds lock U.S. growers out of that market. Specifically, the compound used to help prevent storage rot and make those healthy apples available year-round.

“Consistently, U.S. apples sampled through the national pesticide residue monitoring program have either no residues or residues far below EPA’s strict tolerances. A child could eat 340 servings of apples every day without effect from pesticide residues. The EU’s arbitrary rules deny its own consumers the superior new apple varieties being grown in the United States.

“We hope this announcement will mean a similar review of the steel and aluminum tariffs imposed on India and China, which, respectively, were the second- and sixth-ranked export markets for U.S. apples before the tariffs. Total tariffs against U.S. apples are 70% in India and 55 percent in China, taking a large bite out of the United States’ formerly $1 billion apple export market.”