CCM’s Joel Nelsen was reappointed to the Administration’s Fruit & Vegetable Trade Advisory Committee this week as announced by USDA Secretary Sonny Perdue and Trade Ambassador Robert Lighthizer. These positions are highly coveted as they have direct engagement with Administration officials on trade policy. Nelsen has served since the George W. Bush Administration, and for [...]
California Citrus Mutual hosted Sabina Neumann, an economist with the International Trade Commission. Sabina’s extensive economic portfolio includes the produce industry. The International Trade Commission is a non-partisan agency that evaluates trade activities on varied business sectors in the United States. The visit with Kings River Packing and Orange Cove-Sanger Citrus included information about cost [...]
The headlines were big and the noise loud about a proposed rule allowing specific Chinese citrus into the United States. The release was a surprise albeit it had been pending for five years. The rule is specific to the following varieties: pomelo, Nanfeng honey mandarin, ponkan, sweet orange & Satsuma mandarin. USDA/APHIS has developed a [...]
The tea leaves are not looking good presently. We have learned that China did seek to renegotiate terms of a trade agreement that had already been discussed. Headlines are accurate inasmuch CCM has been contacted by USDA regarding the trade mitigation package being extended and seeking counsel on how it could be improved. USDA is [...]
Citrus industry leaders from Florida, Texas, and California descended upon Washington, D.C. last week laying a foundation regarding the explosion of off shore imports into the domestic market adversely affecting grower revenues and shelf space at retail stores. The California contingent consisted of CCM’s President Casey Creamer and Strategic Advisor Joel Nelsen along with Sunkist’s [...]
Last week USDA published a rule for comment allowing China citrus producers access to the U.S. market. Notwithstanding the fact that this “ask” had been lingering since 2014, the publishing of the rule initiates a process in which specific varieties of citrus could land in the domestic market this next season. Taking advantage of previously [...]
Long ago CCM chronicled the disparity in farm programs around the world that place the California citrus industry as a disadvantage. Almost 20 years ago we noted that the EU subsidized their citrus industry to the tune of what is now a billion dollars! Today we are noting that farming costs in the Southern Hemisphere [...]
First the good news. The Administration is threatening to go over the EU producers regarding the availability of very inexpensive airplane parts being made available to manufacturers to the detriment of U.S. manufacturing. Taking a page from the China profile, USTR has indicated tariffs will be placed on imported agricultural product specifically listing oranges, lemons, [...]
“In 2017 over 55 percent of all fresh fruit available to U.S. consumers was imported. And while just under a third of the total supply of fresh vegetables in the U.S. came from overseas, that proportion had doubled since 2002, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Economic research Service.” The article goes on to [...]
During a routine inspection in New Zealand, spotted winged drosophila (SWD) was detected in one out of 600 Navel orange samples. Citrus is not a known host for the SWD. Because of this detection, New Zealand’s Ministry of Primary Industries (MPI) has instructed USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) to stop writing phystosanitary [...]