Evergreen Reporter

WASHINGTON, D.C. – On June 14, U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA), chair of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation led a letter signed by Senators Patty Murray (D-WA) chair of the Senate Committee on Appropriations, Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), chair of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry, and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) urging President Biden to address the harmful tariffs imposed by the government of India on American apples during Prime Minister Modi’s visit to Washington, D.C. next week.

In the letter to President Biden, the Members write:

“India was once the second largest export market for American apples, but the U.S. apple industry has suffered significant losses due to India’s retaliatory tariffs on American agricultural products…It is past time to find a solution to stop the damage inflicted on American apple growers, their employees, and communities by these retaliatory tariffs.”

Overall, U.S. apple exports have plummeted since the tariffs first took effect. In 2017, Washington state apple growers exported $120 million worth of product to India, compared to less than $1 million this season.

Sen. Cantwell has been a strong advocate for Washington state growers. In January, Sen. Cantwell led the entire Washington state Congressional delegation in requesting help from the U.S. Trade Representative and the Secretary of Commerce to remove harmful tariffs by India on Washington state apples. Sen. Cantwell also sent a letter urging the Biden Administration to help U.S. potato growers finally get approval to sell fresh potatoes in Japan. Last week, Sens. Cantwell and Stabenow held a forum with 30 Washington state agricultural leaders in Wenatchee to discuss the upcoming reauthorization of the Farm Bill.

The full letter is available HERE and below:

Dear President Biden,

We request that you address the harmful tariffs imposed by the Government of India on American apples with Prime Minister Modi during his visit to the United States next week. Prime Minister Modi’s visit is a tremendous opportunity to re-affirm the special relationship that exists between our two nations, improve U.S. - India trade relations, and address the tariff on U.S. apples. India’s current trade restrictions on U.S. apples are harmful to this nationwide industry because they limit access of American growers to an important market, which has led to significant negative impacts on the U.S. domestic market for apples.

In 2019, the Indian government imposed an additional 20 percent tariff on U.S. apples in India, bringing the total tariff to 70 percent on U.S. apples, subsequently eliminating this once valuable export market. Apple growers throughout the U.S. are suffering significant economic losses. For example, Washington state growers have seen exports to India drop over 99 percent, from $120 million in 2017 to less than $1 million this season. The loss of the Indian market for Washington state growers alone affects apple growers in Michigan, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and other apple growing states because apples that were previously exported then enter the domestic market. This has led to reduced prices impacting growers’ bottom lines, at the very time that input costs and supply chain disruptions have left many on the verge of going out of business. Prime Minister Modi’s visit is an opportunity to remedy this situation for our apple growers. 

India was once the second largest export market for American apples, but the U.S. apple industry has suffered significant losses due to India’s retaliatory tariffs on American agricultural products. In retaliation to U.S. Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum in 2018, India increased apple tariffs by 20 percentage points for a combined tariff of 70 percent. Since the implementation of these retaliatory tariffs, American growers have lost significant market share at a cost to growers of half a billion dollars in sales.

Apples are also grown in Northern India. India’s domestic growers argue that they benefit from the high tariffs, but in fact, U.S. apples have been replaced by apples imported from Iran, Chile, and Turkey, which are not subject to India’s elevated tariffs. Notably, these markets don’t adhere to the high labor or environmental standards maintained by U.S. growers. This affects apple growers nationwide, including the 36 states where apples are grown commercially.

It is past time to find a solution to stop the damage inflicted on American apple growers, their employees, and communities by these retaliatory tariffs. In February, India announced a 70 percent cut to tariffs on American pecan exports, demonstrating that progress in tariff reduction for U.S. agriculture is possible. We encourage you to build off this progress and help re-open this critical market for U.S. apple growers.

We appreciate your attention to this important issue and ask you to raise our concerns with Prime Minister Modi during his visit to the United States.

Original source can be found here.