MADRID (XINHUA) – If the United States (US) government carries through its threat to impose tariffs on European olive oil, it will probably affect American consumers more than European and Spanish exporters, a Spanish industry representative said.
Spain’s annual production of olive oil is around 1,400,000 tonnes, with 180,000 tonnes exported to the US, making up approximately 40 per cent of the country’s total olive oil imports.
If the US decides to impose tariffs, “we have to value the effect and how they could be implemented”, director of the Spanish Association for the Industry and Commercial Export of Olive Oil (ASOLIVA) Rafael Pico told Xinhua. “If it is a general tariff, then all the countries exporting olive oil (to the US) would be affected in the same way,” he said, noting that the US domestic production of olive oil is “very low” and could not cover domestic needs.
Bearing that in mind, “the main impact would be on the US consumer, who would have to pay a higher price for olive oil”, he said.
“Tariffs would have the effect of distorting the US domestic market,” explained Pico. Olive oil had previously been threatened with tariffs by the first Trump administration as part of a conflict over the aeronautics industry, Pico said, adding that although the Spanish government would “always defend the country’s olive oil producers”, he didn’t want to see the sector “be used as a bargaining chip in other disputes”.
If the tariffs become a reality, the sector would “have to try and explore other markets and export to other countries”, he noted.
