Exporters expect citrus shipments from Castellon to the United States will recover

The Professional Association of Fruit Exporters of the Province of Castellón, Asociex, hopes to reco…

The Professional Association of Fruit Exporters of the Province of Castellón, Asociex, hopes to recover sales of citrus to the United States in this campaign. "To do this, we are attempting to modify this country's cold treatment protocol, which is extremely strict, with the aim of combining the security conditions required by the United States Administration with costs that are acceptable to exporters and the end customer," stated the president of the entity, Jorge Garcia.

The United States was considered a strategic market for the sector. At the end of the last decade, there was a progressive decline in citrus exports to the US. However, Castilian citrus exports to this market ended after the Trump Administration imposed a 25% tariff on citrus exports.

With the arrival of Joe Biden to the White House, this tariff burden was first lifted on a temporary basis in March last year and totally lifted in June. The shift was well received by agricultural organizations and exporters. However, it did not mean that shipments immediately returned, as they were hindered by the US Administration's complex regulations: "An inspector from the United States has to come here, and last year we considered that was a very expensive step for the expectations there were."

The return of these exports raises other questions; such as if it'll be possible to recover the sales lost in these years when other competitors have filled the gap left by the citrus fruits of Castellón.