Exports of U.S. apples “have taken a big hit in recent years,” with the Sino-U.S. trade war as a leading reason, said the U.S. Apple Association on Thursday. The trade group called on the Biden administration to remove U.S. tariffs on Chinese products so that China would eliminate its retaliatory tariffs on U.S. goods that include apples.
“The U.S. apple industry finally achieved full access to the Chinese market in 2015,” said Jim Bair, U.S. Apple’s chief executive. “Exports quickly grew to 2.5 million boxes per year, making China our sixth-largest export market. Sadly, we lost the momentum and growth potential due to the confluence of excessive tariffs, as well continued supply chain and shipping issues.”
China assesses a 50 percent tariff on American-grown apples at present, said the trade group. Almost all U.S. apple exports are from Washington State. It usually exports one-third of its crop, but the export share has now dropped to 21 percent, said U.S. Apple.
The USDA estimated the 2021 apple crop at 10.5 billion pounds, up modestly from 2020. Washington was the top producer, at 7.4 billion pounds, followed by New York State with 1.35 billion pounds and Michigan with 760 million pounds.