On October 31st, a bipartisan delegation from the U.S. House of Representatives led by Congressman Jim Costa (CA-21) and Congressman John Duarte (CA-13) sent a letter to the U.S. Trade Representative, Ambassador Katherine Tai, urging for immediate action against Turkey’s decision to increase tariffs on American-grown almonds.
The letter stated that "...According to reports, Turkey intends to raise the most-favored-nation (MFN) duty on U.S. inshell and shelled almonds by 15 percent. Combined with Turkey’s existing 10 percent retaliatory tariff in response to U.S. Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum, this would result in a substantial 25 percent tariff, a significant increase from the current rate, which has already posed challenges for the domestic almond industry. Such a hike offers other countries such as Australia, Spain, Uzbekistan, and Iran an unjustified competitive advantage over US almonds in the Turkish market."
"Together, we’re making sure Washington stands up for our farmers and our Valley,” said Representative John Duarte
Statistics on California Almonds:
California accounts for nearly 80 percent of global almond production
91% of almond farms are family-operated, and many are less than 100 acres
Almonds create over 100,000 jobs in the food and agricultural sector, specifically in the Central Valley
Exports of almonds under Chapter 8 of the Harmonized System (HS) reached a value of almost $4.9 billion in 2022
Total economic value of exported almonds for the United States in 2022 was $4.646 billion, produced on 1.6 million acres
The letter was led by Congressman Jim Costa (CA-21) and Congressman John Duarte (CA-13) and included Speaker Kevin McCarthy (CA-20), Congressman Doug LaMalfa (CA-01), Congressman Mike Thompson (CA-04), Congressman Josh Harder (CA-09), Congressman Jimmy Panetta (CA-19), Congressman David Valadao (CA-22), Congresswoman Young Kim (CA-40), Congressman Ken Calvert (CA-41), and Congresswoman Katie Porter (CA-47).
