01/05/05 Apple tariffs gone

01/05/05 Apple tariffs gone

It has been almost two years in the making. But Jim Archer of Northwest Fruit Exporters was among the first in line expressing excitement over a recent agreement reached between his organization and the Mexican government. ARCHER: The effect of the agreement will be to set aside the 46.58 per cent duty on Red and Golden Delicious from the Northwest. Duty free Reds and Goldens into Mexico is definitely good news for our apple industry plagued by those tariffs. But Archer warns that growers, packers, shippers expecting immediate relief may be surprised to find out that is not going to be the case. ARCHER: It was our expectation that that agreement would take effect immediately but to our surprise the implementation date of it is February 28th, which means we're going to have about a two month delay in shipments and so we're a bit disappointed in that outcome. Now Archer is quick to point out the agreement is not a blanket one for the U.S. apple industry, but will be a benefit for those involved in Red and Golden Delicious from our region. ARCHER: It requires a membership in Northwest Fruit Exporters. We're able to negotiate the agreement only for our own members. And we cover the exporters in the Pacific Northwest states of Washington, Oregon, and Idaho. But all of the major packers and shippers are N.F.E. members. More in our next program.
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