India’s Tariffs Set to Impact U.S. Fruit, Nut Producers

While the trade war with China claims headlines, India’s tariffs on U.S. exports – which went into effect on June 16, 2019 – will soon be felt by producers of apples, chickpeas, lentils, almonds and walnuts. India is a key current and/or growth market for these crops—meaning that the potential impact from India’s tariffs could be a big deal for producers.

A top commodity that stands out is U.S. exports of in-shell almonds, as India is the #1 export market.

India accounts for:

• 57% of total value of all U.S. in-shell almonds exports ($584 million in 2017) and
• 57% of the growth of U.S. in-shell almond exports over the past decade (+$450 million)

For the affected commodities, the recently enacted India tariffs could play a major role going forward. The longer it takes to reverse the India tariffs, the greater the probability of longer-term impacts to these markets.