Georgia pecan grower Randy Hudson and his fellow farmers are on a mission to bring the American treat to the world.
It’s an effort that’s paid off in places like China, Turkey and Dubai, where pecan exports have flourished.
But the next big market targeted by the industry is proving a problem.
India “has the potential to be as big a pecan customer as China,” Hudson said, but it imposes a tariff rate of about 36 percent on the nut. Pecan exporting to India is still in the early stages and sales are relatively small. But the prospect of much bigger sales stands to be limited by the tariff because it makes pecans more expensive.
The industry — which is lobbying for a more reasonable rate, around 10 percent — has enlisted the help of officials in Washington to press its case.
U.S. Rep. Sanford Bishop Jr. (D-Albany), a member of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture, sent a letter to U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman.
“There is a disturbing discrepancy between import tariff rates which have been applied by India to various tree nuts. U.S. growers have visited India, met with potential buyers and participated in trade shows, yet they continue to find the current tariff rate a major barrier to U.S. pecans entering India, ” the letter said.
He asked that the government “urge India to lower their import tariff rates on U.S. pecans.”
via Pecan industry looks to India as its next China | www.myajc.com.
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