Tariff relief sought for Maine's apple growers

Photo / Renee Cordes Maine's 84 apple growers, many of which are small, family-run businesses, have been affected by ongoing international trade disruptions.

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By Staff

Two months after Maine’s Congressional delegation sought federal relief for lobstermen and wild blueberry growers harmed by China's retaliatory trade tariffs, the feds are being urged to help the state’s apple growers.

U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and U.S. Rep. Jared Golden, D-Maine 2nd District, last week wrote Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, requesting aid for Maine’s 84 apple producers.

“As larger apple producers in the western U.S. are no longer able to export as much product to markets such as China and India, those apples are sent to the eastern U.S., flooding the domestic market,” Collins and Golden wrote to Perdue Sept. 11. “This is especially harmful for smaller growers like those in Maine who rely predominantly on the domestic market for sales.”

Collins and Golden requested that Perdue obtain U.S. Department of Agriculture relief through the Agricultural Trade Promotion Program or “any other department trade relief programs.” The ATP program is the one from which Maine’s delegation sought funds in July for the lobster industry.

In their Sept. 11 letter to Lighthizer, Collins and Golden noted that India is the second-largest importer of U.S. apples and that China one of the fastest-growing markets. Trade negotiations with both countries should include the removal of apple tariffs, the two members of Congress said.

In July, the delegation sought relief for the state’s blueberry industry from the USDA’s Marketing Facilitation Program, a $16 billion initiative that has assisted growers of sweet cherries, cranberries and grapes. But the blueberry request was turned down.

It's unclear yet whether apple growers will meet the same fate.

“Apple growers represent an important part of Maine’s economy and agricultural heritage,” Collins and Golden wrote. “As our small growers weather the storms of trade disruptions, we must ensure that they have the necessary resources and support.”