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The Times, Gainesville, Georgia | gainesvilletimes.com
Friday, June 28, 2019 7A
Trade tensions, tariffs
put Ca. almonds at risk
RICH PEDRONCELLII Associated Press
In this Friday June 21, photo, almond farmer Jake Wenger,
assistant manager at Salida Hulling Association, discusses
the effects of the trade tariffs imposed by India, in Modesto,
Calif. India has imposed tariffs on almonds and over two
dozen other products including apples and walnuts as
retaliation for the Trump administration revoking India’s
preferential trade privileges. The tariffs took effect Sunday,
June 16.
JEFF GILL I The Times
The Rev. Robert Bruce of McEver Road United Methodist
Church speaks during the Flowery Branch City Council
meeting Thursday night.
BY SAMANTHA
MALDONADO
Associated Press
MODESTO — Along large
swaths of California’s lush
central valley, almonds in
the fuzzy hulls of tree leaves
blow in the wind on thou
sands of acres of orchards.
Thousands of miles away in
India, customers browse the
nut sections of busy street
markets and grocery stores
in search of the best almonds
to use in curry dishes, health
drinks, ice cream and many
other recipes.
Now the future of that
market is uncertain. India
this month imposed tariffs
on almonds and 27 other
American products, includ
ing apples and walnuts,
in retaliation for the U.S.
ending India’s preferential
trade status. Those tariffs
took effect June 16 and
come on top of a signifi
cant tariffs China placed on
almonds last year.
“We can deal with market
disruption in one country, but
to have it in multiple coun
tries is a real challenge,” said
David Phippen, a partner of
Travaille & Phippen, Inc., a
farm and processing com
pany in Manteca.
California supplies 82% of
the world’s almonds and has
almost 7,000 growers. The
Almond Board of California
estimates the industry gen
erates about 104,000 jobs in
California, and the effect of
the tariffs might ripple out
ward. India is such an impor
tant market that the almond
board, whose members
engage in market research
and promotion overseas, has
an office in New Delhi with a
$6 million annual advertising
budget.
The tariffs add about 12
cents per pound to shelled
almonds, a 20 percent
increase, and about 4 cents
for those still in their shells, a
rise of 17%.
“That doesn’t sound like
a large number, but India
was an important alterna
tive to exports that would’ve
gone into China,” said Julie
Adams, president of the
Almond Board of California.
“It’s difficult to know what
the long-term effect of (the
tariffs) will be.”
The hit from China tariffs
was much harder: the coun
try imposed 50% tariffs on
U.S. almonds in an escalat
ing trade dispute. Exports to
China decreased by about
a third, according to the
almond board.
Bhupesh Gupta, a grocery
store owner in New Delhi,
believes higher prices will
cut into sales. While India
is one of the world’s largest
consumer markets, it also
has huge income disparities
and hundreds of millions
live in poverty. Even a small
increase in the cost could
have a large ripple effect on
what people buy.
Still, other sellers say that
Indians are so passionate
about almonds that they will
figure out a way to deal with
price hikes.
“It won’t matter, as anyone
who needs almonds will buy
no matter what the price,”
said Delhi grocer Virender
Kaneja.
For California farmers,
most immediately the tar
iffs mean planning difficul
ties as the harvest season
approaches. For example,
some may need to take on
more of the shipping costs to
make up for the increased
prices, which will be negoti
ated in the contracts. The
handlers then may absorb the
increased costs themselves or
pass them onto the growers.
To cope, growers may cut
down on spending on equip
ment and fertilizer, perhaps
making the choice to forego
replacing a tractor. If the
Indian tariffs slow the flow of
inventory, as happened after
the Chinese tariffs, the capac
ity of storage facilities may
be stretched.
“From a grower perspec
tive, we’re along for the ride,”
said Jake Wenger, whose
family has grown almonds on
Wenger Ranch in Modesto,
about 90 miles (150 kilome
ters) east of San Francisco,
for four generations.
U.S. Secretary of State
Mike Pompeo is in India
this week, meeting with offi
cials amid growing tensions
between the two countries
over trade and tariffs. The
trip is focused on Iran, but a
California congressman has
asked Pompeo to raise the
almond tariff issue.
Some growers worry that
if California almonds get too
expensive, buyers will look
elsewhere.
“They can buy other nuts
or seeds, or if they’re prepar
ing a nut mix, they can lower
the amount of almonds in
that mix,” said Phippen.
Countries may also turn
to other producers, such
as Australia, whose free
trade agreement with China
allowed the country to sup
ply almonds in the wake of
its tariffs on U.S. almonds.
Ultimately, the almond
industry will need to make
inroads in other markets,
which is no small task.
“It takes so long for us
to build relationships to
market our products,” said
Sara Neagu-Reed, associate
director of the California
Farm Bureau Federation’s
federal policy division.
Still, no one is panick
ing, yet. California’s export
of almonds to India is val
ued at about $650 million,
according to the U.S. Agri
culture Department and
California Department of
Food and Agriculture, but
the state tallied $4.5 billion
in foreign sales in 2017. The
USDA valued U.S. almond
exports to China and Hong
Kong at about $549 million
in 2017-2018
In just over a month, the
fruit will be harvested from
farms and trucked to hulling
businesses, where the nut
will be separated from the
shell and hull.
“It’s pretty amazing and
gives you pride as a grower
when you think about some
thing that’s making its way
all over the world,” Wegner
said.
In recent years, drought
has been the biggest chal
lenge for almond growers,
and farmers noted that they
have become accustomed
to market fluctuations and
cite the strong, worldwide
demand for almonds as rea
son for optimism.
The almonds at Wenger
Ranch are part of this year’s
record-high crop of 2.5 bil
lion pounds (1.1 billion
kilograms), up from about
2.3 billion pounds last year.
Most of those almonds are
already committed into con
tracts, so Wenger isn’t wor
ried for now. It’s the future
that’s in the air.
“We can’t do this every
year,” he said. “Long term,
there has to be a solution to
settle this.”
CHURCH
■ Continued from 1A
serves nearby neighbor
hoods and the city as a
whole.”
The church’s attorney,
David Dickerson, told the
council he had presented a
letter to Mayor Mike Miller
“raising a few constitu
tional objections.”
“We feel like current
zoning is a detriment to us
in keeping us from being
able to use the property
as we’d like to,” he said.
“Under Georgia law, the
Georgia courts and the
Georgia legislature have
indicated that churches
get special consideration in
zoning matters.”
The church has a con
tract to buy the property
and “it’s probably going
to close in about 60 days,”
said the Rev. Rob Bruce,
the church’s pastor.
“Our vision is to love
Christ, love people and
help people love Christ,” he
told the council. “Our cur
rent facility and location do
not allow us to realize this
vision. It’s not that we’ve
outgrown it numerically.
Our vision and mission
have become bigger than
the facility.
“This location and our
new building will unleash
us to do what Jesus has
called us to do.”
Bruce had said in an ear
lier interview the church
“believes the contributions
we can make to the com
munity’s quality of life have
the potential to be priceless
and that we will be profit
able to the community in
ways that cannot be accom
plished by another gas sta
tion or convenience store.”
Flowery Branch also
has raised concerns about
traffic.
The busy intersection,
which serves as a main
gateway to downtown
Flowery Branch, includes
a subdivision being built, a
gas station, restaurants and
other retail. Hall County
and Flowery Branch
rebuilt the intersection a
couple of years ago, adding
turn lanes.
“McEver Road itself has
issues that will need to be
addressed sooner rather
than later,” says the city’s
staff report.
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