The latest tariffs on US exports took effect on Monday, increasing the burden on high-volume commodities shipped to China from the Northwest.
“I did hear from some hay exporters right away that even when the tariffs were just proposed, Chinese companies were cancelling orders,” said Rianne Perry, who manages an international marketing program at the Washington State Department of Agriculture.
Perry said it is difficult right now to tally the overall hurt from this escalating trade war because the harvest and sale of many crops is still in the future. The cherry harvest is over, though. The export losses were so great that Northwest cherry growers recently learned they qualify for federal relief payments.
Perry told the state Senate Economic Development & International Trade Committee that China was Washington’s number one export market last year for cherries. But now, after several rounds of tit-for-tat tariff increases, the Chinese tax rate on US cherries stands at 50 percent.
Apple and pear exports to China were growing from modest beginnings until this trade dispute kicked in, Perry added. She said there is a lot of concern in the apple sector.
Source: www.kuow.org
