Impacts of the Intensified Sino-US Trade War on Fruit Markets

By CnAgri2018-07-11 10:41:43 Print Recently, the sino-US trade war had been renewed. The US announced a 25 percent tariff on $50 billion of goods from China. Later it threatened another 10% tariff on $200 billion of goods from China. China immediately issued countermeasures. This would definitely have far-reaching impacts on many domestic industries; as the fruit industry would be greatly affected by the trade war, what would the future bring?
 
At present, the fresh fruits the United States exports to China include apples, pears, strawberries, cherries, grapes and citrus fruits (oranges, grapefruit, lemons, etc.), etc. In 2017, China imported 228,000 tons of fruits from the United States and the amount was $766 million. The United States has became China’s third largest fruit supplier; the values of cherries, citrus fruits, grapes and apples reached $170 million, $88 million, $41 million and $36.7 million.
 
At present, as the relevant measures had been implemented, the relevant impact had reached the fruit market. The relevant import prices of the fruits from the United States had rose sharply. Taking the Sunkist black label products as an example, the wholesale price of these products during the same period last year was about RMB 330 but the price is about RMB 430 now. The market prices changed sharply and the volumes of the goods arrived reduced sharply; besides, as the tariff on the imported fruits from the U.S. was raised, the customs clearance is extended. As a result, the import cost and procurement risks increased. Some of the domestic wholesalers had already unsubscribed the American fruits ordered previously.    
 
The impacts of the trade war on the fruit varieties are mainly apples and citrus fruits but not cherries (which were of greater import volumes). This was mainly due to more suppliers of apples and citrus fruits. During the same period, the American cherries are of the best quality and suppliers are fewer.