Fruit and Tree Nuts: Trade

Overview Background Trade Market Outlook Policy Commodity Highlights Recommended Readings Recommended Data Related Links

Exports

• Fresh fruit
• Frozen fruit
• Canned fruit
• Dried fruit
• Fruit juices
• Tree nuts

Imports

• Fruit
• Tree nuts

Exports

Exports account for a growing share of U.S. fruit and tree nut supplies. Increased overseas promotion of U.S. fruit and vegetables, through efforts such as the Market Access Program, has likely helped boost foreign sales, particularly to Canada, the largest foreign buyer of U.S. fruits and vegetables.

During the 1990s and through the mid-2000s, 11-12 percent of U.S. fruit and tree nut supplies were exported, up from an average of 9 percent during the 1980s. This share varies substantially among commodities and major aggregate categories. In recent years, the most export dependent commodity group was tree nuts, with over 40 percent of domestic supply exported, followed by dried fruit (over 30 percent), and fresh fruit (over 15 percent).

Most export-dependent fruit and tree nut products, 2004-06

Fresh fruit. U.S. exports of fresh-market fruit account for about 15 percent of available supplies. In value terms, fresh-market fruit exports amounted to nearly $3 billion each year during 2005-07, capturing more than half of total fruit exports (excluding tree nuts). The leading fresh fruit exports are apples, grapes, and oranges, with combined sales averaging over $1 billion annually, or about half the value of fresh fruit exports. Apples and grapes averaged over $500 million each in annual export sales during 2005-07 and oranges at over $300 million. Export sales of fresh berries, led by strawberries, nearly tripled between 2000 and 2007 for a combined value of over $300 million for each of the past 3 years. Canada is the leading destination for U.S. fresh fruit, generally accounting for over one-third of all fresh fruit exports. Other major markets are Japan, Mexico, Taiwan, and Hong Kong.

Frozen fruit. Exports have removed 2-4 percent of domestic frozen fruit supplies annually since the 1990s. Canada and Japan are the major destinations for U.S. frozen fruit exports and together accounted for about four-fifths of total annual export volume during the 2000s. Berries are a major portion of frozen fruit supplies, with strawberries accounting for nearly 40 percent of all frozen fruit exports. Overall, export demand for U.S. frozen fruit has declined slightly during the 2000s relative to the 1990s, with export volume averaging over 84 million pounds (product-weight equivalent), down from around 90 million pounds in the previous decade. Much of the decline reflects lower exports of frozen strawberries, especially to Japan where U.S. exports continue to be pressured by lower priced imports of frozen strawberries from China. In addition, Japanese demand for imported frozen strawberries has been declining in recent years due to increasing imports of ready-made jam products from China. Most of Japan's frozen strawberry imports are used for making jam products.

Canned fruit. Exports of canned fruit ranged from 1-3 percent of available canned fruit supplies during the early- to mid-2000s, essentially unchanged from the 1990s. Canned fruit that have the largest percentage of domestic supplies exported during the 2000s are sweet cherries (about two-thirds) and tart cherries (around one-fourth). Canned peaches claim the largest quantity shipped to foreign markets, although the volume exported often has been less than 5 percent of available supply since the 1980s. Lack of demand for U.S. canned peaches can be partly explained by increased foreign competition. During the 1970s, Europe was the most important export market for U.S. canned peaches. However, an expansion of peach canneries in Europe, aided by subsidies and high tariffs, contributed to a decline in exports to that region. Canada and Mexico remain as major destinations for U.S. canned peaches but, in recent years, exports have grown sharply to Thailand and China. Thailand now is the leading export market for U.S. canned peaches.

Dried fruit. Exports of dried fruit accounted for about one-third of U.S. dried fruit supplies during the early- to mid-2000s, up slightly from the mid-to-late 1990s. Raisins make up about three-fourths and prunes close to a quarter of U.S. dried fruit exports. Japan is the leading destination for U.S. dried fruit exports, accounting for nearly 20 percent of annual volume. Other major markets include Canada, the United Kingdom, and Germany.

Fruit juices. Less than one-tenth of domestic fruit juice supplies during the early- to mid-2000s were exported, not much changed from the 1990s. About half of U.S. fruit juice exports is orange juice, although the United States is a net importer of orange juice. Canada, the European Union, and Japan are leading markets for U.S. orange and grapefruit juices. Both Canada and Japan are also major markets for U.S. grape and apple juices.

Tree nuts. The United States leads the world in the production and export of tree nuts—producing more than one-tenth of the world's tree nuts and about a quarter of world exports. Exports of tree nuts averaged over 40 percent of U.S. tree nut supplies during the early- to mid-2000s, up slightly from the 1990s and more than half the average share during the 1980s. Almonds accounted for nearly 70 percent of tree nut export volume in recent years, averaging over 660 million pounds (shelled basis). Following almonds are walnuts and pistachios with over 10 percent and about 5 percent, respectively, of total tree nut exports. The major export destinations for U.S. tree nuts are Spain, Germany, and the Netherlands in the European Union; India, Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, Vietnam, China, and Taiwan in Asia; and Canada.

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Imports

Fruit. While growth in U.S. fruit exports has been strong, the United States has remained a net fruit importer. U.S. fruit imports grew during the last two decades and through the mid-2000s, due in part to the growing ethnic population in the United States and the increased demand for new products. Not only have imports expanded for commodities already produced domestically, creating competition for U.S. producers, but imports have also increased for nontraditional fruits, especially many tropical fruits.

The recent growth in imports applied to each of the fruit categories (fresh, juice, canned, dried, and frozen). Imports of juice and fresh fruit are the most important in terms of volume, but frozen fruit imports posted the strongest growth during the mid-2000s. Led by berries, frozen fruit imports more than tripled in volume and, in terms of share of domestic consumption, rose from over 10 percent in the 1990s to over 30 percent in recent years. More than half of the frozen fruit imports are from Mexico, Canada, and Chile.

Imported fruit continues to become more important in domestic consumption. Relative to the 1990s, import shares of domestic consumption rose for all fruit categories in recent years. Imports’ role grew most rapidly for canned fruits, surpassing fresh fruit as being the most dependent on imports to meet domestic demand during the mid-2000s. Now, more than half of canned fruit consumed in the United States are from imports. Canned pineapples are the most reliant on imports for domestic consumption, but canned olives have seen the biggest gain in terms of import share.

Fresh fruit imports as a share of domestic consumption rose from 35 percent in 1990 to over 40 percent during the mid-2000s. Bananas claim close to 60 percent of the volume of fresh fruit imports. Without bananas, fresh fruit imports rose from 12 percent of domestic consumption in 1990 to over 25 percent during the mid-2000s. Sold year round in the domestic market, bananas rank number one in U.S. per capita fresh fruit consumption, followed by apples and oranges. To meet domestic demand, virtually all bananas are imported, primarily from Ecuador, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Colombia, and Honduras. Excluding bananas, fruit imports rose an average 10 percent annually between 1976 and the mid-2000s.

Mexico is the largest supplier of fresh and frozen fruit to the United States, accounting for over 30 percent each of the volume and value of fresh and frozen fruit imports (excluding bananas). Mexico ships mostly limes, tangerines, mangoes, grapes, pineapples, papayas, avocados, and strawberries. U.S. production of these commodities—except for tangerines, grapes, and strawberries—is minimal. Geographic proximity and the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) provide Mexico with a competitive advantage over other exporting countries, with lower transportation costs and lower or no tariffs.

Chile is also a major supplier of fresh fruit, with over a 20-percent share of the U.S. import market. Chile enjoys the advantage of having a counter-seasonal production schedule with the United States: its Southern Hemisphere location means that it can provide fresh fruit at times when the United States produces little, particularly from November through March. Expanded trade with Chile—beginning in the mid- to late-1980s—extended the availability of certain fruits in the market without direct competition with domestic production and provided U.S. consumers with fruit choices beyond the traditional domestic winter fruits of citrus, apples, and pears. Important fruit imports from Chile are grapes, stone fruit, avocados, and kiwifruit. While small relative to these major fruits, blueberry imports from Chile boomed in recent years and Chile's share of total fresh blueberry imports to the United States rose to an average of over 40 percent during the mid-2000s from less than 1 percent during the early 1990s. Due to lack of direct competition with U.S. fruit producers, Chilean fruit face relatively low tariffs.

Other fruit and fruit product suppliers to the United States are Brazil (the largest supplier of orange juice), and China, Argentina, and Chile (the leading suppliers of apple juice). Western Europe is a major supplier of processed fruit products such as wine and fruit juices. Southeast Asia provides the largest share of canned fruit products, specifically Thailand and the Philippines for canned pineapple.

Tree nuts. U.S. imports of tree nuts during the 1990s and through the 2000s were up sharply from the 1970s and 1980s due to increased demand. Almost half the volume of tree nut imports (excluding coconut meat) was cashew nuts, followed by pecans (15 percent) and Brazil nuts (6 percent). The largest supplier of tree nuts to the United States is India, accounting for nearly half of cashew nut imports each year. In recent years, Vietnam has become a more visible player in the U.S. cashew market. Vietnam is now the second largest supplier of cashew nuts to the United States, accounting for over a quarter of total import volume, up from less than 10 percent in the mid- to late-1990s. Nearly all pecan imports come from Mexico, while close to half of the Brazil nut imports come from Brazil.

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