Chinese tariffs on cherries and apples are leaving northwest growers disappointed.
"We see China with tremendous growth potential and China is already the biggest export market we have for cherries," said Sean Gilbert, general manager at Gilbert Orchards in Yakima, Washington. "We export ten percent of our cherries to China."
"The recent tariffs with China are very disappointing. We hope that they will be resolved. But if they are not, they'll result in lower returns for our growers and farms. There was a lot of hard work we have put in already developing that market, is going to be hurt by the tariffs."
The Pacific Northwest is home to family-owned orchards that provide approximately 66 percent of the apples, 74 percent of the pears, and 78 percent of the sweet cherries grown in the United States.
Together, these crops are valued at an average of $3 billion annually, and create tens of thousands of jobs in rural communities throughout the region.
Exports are vital to the industry, with approximately one-third of the apples, pears, and cherries grown in the region going to other countries.
China is a very important market for cherries and apples.
Super-large fresh cherries are expensive in China, but it's now one of the very top export markets for the Northwest. They take about 13 percent of the overall Northwest crop last year.
Last summer, China Eastern Airlines' Cherry Express cargo plane sent fresh cherries from Seattle to Shanghai, 55 times in eight weeks.
The Cherry Express is a unique partnership between online sales giant Alibaba, China Eastern Air Group and Northwest Cherry Growers.
In 2017, about 2.9 million 20-pound boxes of cherries, valued at $127 million, grown and packed in Washington and Oregon were exported to China according to the Northwest Horticultural Council.
"We started to develop the Chinese market about 11 years ago, from zero to over 33,000 tons last year," said Keith Hu, international program director for the Northwest Cherry Growers. "We continue to see the growth especially in the second-tier cities. We have established the first-tier cities pretty well. We're looking for 10 second-tier key cities in inner China for growth. The Chinese market is important."
Hu thought it was too early to predict the impact of the tariffs, but it will make the US cherry less competitive. Data from China Customs indicate that China imported 102,000 tons of cherries valued at $770 million in 2017. In 2017, cherries from eight countries were imported into China — in order of market share — Chile, US, Canada, New Zealand, Australia, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Turkey.
"Last year, we shipped just over 3 million 20-pound boxes of cherries in June, July and August to China and the value was right in the $130 million range. My growers are at a point what they need every single market they can get and having a market as great as China slowed down by tariffs is concerning," Northwest Cherry Growers president B.J. Thurlby said.
"I have worked for 11 years in the Chinese market, to build the consumers' trust behind our products and I think we've done that. The frustrating part is that I feel the consumers in China will be the ones who have to pay prices as well. I also care about my friends in China," Thurlby said.