Each year the USDA releases an Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) Report. We have included some notable facts from the report below. APHIS inspected and cleared 3.83 billion pounds of fresh fruit and 1.1 billion plants from 22 countries before being shipped to the United States; identified 130,493 individual pests found during U.S. [...]
CCM President Casey Creamer visited South Africa last week as part of a California trade delegation. The delegation was put together by California Department of Food and Agriculture Secretary Karen Ross. Also participating was Karla Nemeth, Director of the California Department of Water Resources; Carlos Suarez, State Conservationist with USDA Natural Resources Conservation District; Randy [...]
USDA recently announced the $26.7 million orange purchase program will commence on September 9 and run through December 18, 2019. This is the final installment of the original $55 million program that was offered last year to offset losses associated with trade disputes. Over $14 million will be allocated to California orange shippers during this [...]
The Chinese Government announced on Monday, August 5, 2019, that they are suspending all U.S. agricultural purchases effective immediately. The quick escalation of the ongoing trade battle was expected in response to the Administration’s recent implementation of an additional 10 percent tariff on $300 billion of Chinese goods. U.S. agriculture and the California citrus industry [...]
USDA reports that discussions with Vietnamese officials have proven to be more cumbersome than anticipated with agreement on protocols for citrus access illusive. In fact, a recent communication from senior USDA policy officials to counterparts in the Vietnamese government indicates that technical discussions have become counterproductive. The technical team at USDA/APHIS has been urged to [...]
The International Trade Commission is the agency that evaluates and publishes data relative to trade impacts. It is non-partisan and relied upon by other federal agencies as well as business sectors for “accurate information.” CCM has been monitoring exports to China and Hong Kong since the trade dispute started in the Spring of 2018. The [...]
Economic reports from Washington D.C. indicate that the Administration’s aggressive approach to tackling trade injustices by China is impacting the Chinese economy and people. Economic growth for the quarter ending June 30 was the lowest in 26 years. In 2018, economists believed a strong China could withstand economic pressures for a significant period of time, [...]
Agricultural commodities affected by trade disputes, most notably with China, are once again being offered offset programs to achieve net revenue goals. For some, this is a direct payment check akin to existing Title I programs as outlined in the Farm Bill. For others, like citrus, there will again be two programs that our industry [...]
CCM President Casey Creamer has been invited to join a California trade delegation that will visit South African counterparts in August. The mission is spearheaded by the State Board of Food and Agriculture and includes Secretary Karen Ross of the California Department of Food and Agriculture; Don Cameron, Chair of the State Department of Food [...]
“As an overarching comment, we are confused by the events that have taken place with respect to the request from China,” so states the opening paragraph of CCM comments submitted in response to Chinese petition to import citrus into the United States. We question why pest-free areas of production were eliminated as a requirement and [...]
