Fedefruta president warns that it will hit growers and workers in the country
The Chilean federation of fruit producers, Fedefruta, said the 10 per cent tariff announced by President Trump on Wednesday on all exports to the US would be very detrimental to both producers and workers in Chile.
“We believe these tariffs tremendously affect producers and workers in the agricultural world,” said Fedefruta president Víctor Catán.
“Moreover, it affects American consumers, even more so given that the US has a large percentage of obese people, since fruit is not only a food, but also a health product.
“The US does not need to apply tariffs to Chilean fruit since it has other tools such as marketing orders, a tool dating back to 1937, which protects local producers by using tariffs when necessary, such as on table grapes,” Catán added.
Antonio Walker, president of Chile’s National Agricultural Society (SNA), noted that “Chile has built its development on an open trade policy, based on long-term agreements and clear rules. Therefore, the application of these barriers to exports that comply with the rules of origin established in the bilateral treaty with the US is incomprehensible”.
According to Walker, cherries, blueberries, apples, pears, and table grapes, as well as wines, which have a consolidated presence in the US market, would be affected.
In the case of table grapes, Catán noted that producers are already facing a challenging season and that many would be unable to achieve results that would warrant continuing to trade with the US.
In an analysis published in San Carlos Online, Sebastián Valdés, a commercial engineer at the Pontifical Catholic University, said the tariffs would affect demand for Chilean fresh fruit, other products, such as dried fruit and nuts, could benefit if countries affected by tariffs respond with similar measures against US products.
In the case of almonds, Valdés Chile could better position itself in Asian markets if California, its main competitor, faces retaliatory tariffs.
“This is not linear. We must analyse product by product and market by market,” he said.
