Apple growers in Washington have reason to celebrate this season after years of trade disputes with India, their major market.
The market has been largely closed to apple growers in Washington since the Trump administration imposed tariffs on some Indian exports, and the Indian government followed suit with tariffs on U.S. products. Under the deal, reached last summer at the urging of Washington’s congressional delegation, India would lift the tariffs and return Washington state apples to Indian grocery stores and markets.
Now, with the long-planned opening of an Indian consulate in Seattle, officials hope to deepen trade ties.
Last week at Terminal 46 at the Port of Seattle, Washington Democratic Sen. Maria Cantwell and Indian Consul General Prakash Gupta joined port officials, labor officials and apple growers to celebrate the recovery in apple exports since India’s repeal of retaliatory tariffs. Ta.
“Our apple growers, our actual apples, are the pride of the Washington agricultural economy,” Cantwell said.
According to the Northwest Horticultural Council, apples are the most important agricultural product in Washington state, the nation’s top apple producer. In 2021, the Pacific Northwest produced nearly 5 billion pounds of apples.
India was a $120 million export market for Washington apple growers. That all changed in 2019, when India raised tariffs on U.S. apples, walnuts, lentils and chickpeas by 20% in retaliation for the Trump administration’s tariffs on Indian steel and aluminum.
Cantwell said the Trump administration’s tariffs and retaliatory tariffs have “destroyed a $120 million market for our agricultural products.” “In central Washington, apple production is big and employs 68,000 people, so it had an impact.”
Since January 2023, Mr. Cantwell began filing disputes with Trade Representative Katherine Tai and Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo. He also held talks with the US Ambassador to India on this issue.
Cantwell, who chairs the Senate Commerce Committee, also met with Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his visit to India and led a letter to President Joe Biden seeking to negotiate an end to retaliatory tariffs.
Before India imposed tariffs, about one-third of Washington state’s apple crop was exported. Last season, before retaliatory tariffs were lifted, 24% of all crops were exported, said Riley Bushu, director of legislative relations and export programs for the Northwest Horticultural Council. He expects that number to be “closer to 30%” this season.
With tariffs lowered this season, growers are halfway through the shipping season, with total apple sales from Washington to India estimated at just over $16 million. Last season’s total revenue was $1.3 million, Cantwell said.
A rebound in apple exports is also good news for the ports of Seattle and Tacoma, as it will increase container traffic.
“Even if you invest properly in devices and provide the best service,…without proper investment, [trade] Seattle Port Commission Chairman Hamdi Mohamed said at an event Tuesday.
Richard Austin, president of the local International Longshore and Warehousing Union, which represents some longshoremen, said longshoremen are ready to work to facilitate the shipment of Washington apples through the ports of Tacoma and Seattle. He said there is.
The event was attended by a new face, the Consul General of India in Seattle. When Prime Minister Modi announced the tariff relief during his state visit to Washington DC in June, he also announced that India would open a consulate in Seattle.
The move was in part a response to increased trade ties between India and the Northwest, where the number of Indians and Indian Americans has increased over the past decade. In 2020, there were about 161,124 people of Indian descent living in Washington, according to Census Bureau data, double the number 10 years ago.
The embassy opened in November and is currently temporarily housed at the Fairmont Olympic Hotel in downtown Seattle.
Mr. Gupta, who later gifted Mr. Cantwell with an Indian flag stole, said that in addition to the consulate’s prioritizing technology, it also wants to “further strengthen bilateral trade between India and the United States,” especially in Washington. .
He said he went to a Starbucks store in the morning and was thinking about how to bring Indian coffee to Starbucks. He also wants to import Indian mangoes, he said.
“We’re looking forward to further diversification,” Mr. Gupta said.
As Mr. Gupta looked on, Mr. Cantwell said he wanted to grow India’s apple economy and increase export opportunities with the country.
“What we want is more trade opportunities and expanded markets,” he said in an interview. “We are a very trade-dependent state in Washington.”
Cantwell said Prime Minister Modi’s trade policy focuses on agriculture and the two governments are strengthening trade ties. However, the future of US-India trade depends on the upcoming presidential election.
Former President Donald Trump has touted a 10% tariff on all imports if re-elected, which could affect trade relations with India. President Trump called his plan “an eye for an eye and a tariff for a tariff.” President Trump’s allies have argued that higher prices paid by consumers will be offset by job growth, with one Trump trade adviser telling the New York Times in December that “the third line on the unemployment line… If you think someone with a 40-inch TV is better than him.” If you’re working with just two people, you probably won’t agree with me. ”
The plan would impose $300 billion in taxes on U.S. residents and could lead to trade retaliation, according to a report by the nonprofit Tax Foundation.
Cantwell said tariff retaliation is hurting working families.
“I hope that no future administration considers tariffs to be the final solution, because they are not,” she said.
