U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) recently purchased more than 450,000 boxes of California table grapes as part of its tariff mitigation program.
California table grapes were included in the USDA Food Purchasing Program for the first time as part of the mitigation program because of the 53% tariff imposed on U.S. grapes by China. According to the most recent USDA data, shipments of California grapes to China are down 42.2% in volume and 41.2% in value in 2018 compared to 2017.
“The 2018 season has been a tough one for table grape growers,” said Kathleen Nave, president of the California Table Grape Commission. “The tariffs on table grapes have been painful but the real harm has been caused by the fact that tariffs on multiple competing commodities, such as cherries, stone fruits, and apples, caused more fruit of all kinds to be sold in the domestic market. The USDA purchasing program comes at a good time for table grape growers and is appreciated.”