Smaller crop and growing domestic appetite ease China tariff pain for US cherry exports

© Jim Cottingham

Weighed down by almost 50% tariffs, US cherry exports to China have fallen, but the pain for growers has been mitigated by a combination of lower volume and a resilient domestic market.

However, for air freight operators this year’s cherry season has been a setback.

US cherries took a heavy hit from the tariffs Beijing imposed on a number of US commodities, worth a total of $34bn.

Having slapped a 15% tariff on top of the existing 10% in early April, the Chinese ...