A two-year trade dispute between the United States and the Mexican government has been resolved, eliminating Mexico’s tariff on grapes imported fom C California.
In March 2009, Mexico increased its tariff on table grapes from zero to 45 percent in retaliation for the U.S. government canceling a pilot program that allowed Mexican trucks to operate in the U.S.

Fresh grapes were among 89 products included on Mexico’s retaliation list, and received the highest tariff imposed on any product.

Mexico has long been one of the largest export markets for California’s fresh grape industry, with shipments ranking second in 2008, valued at over $61 million. The increased tariff caused exports to drop by almost 73 percent to a value of $16 million in 2009. Volume decreased from nearly 5.8 million 19-pound boxes in 2008 to 1.7 million in 2009, according to the California Table Grape Commission.

“Mexico has been a vital market for California’s fresh grape industry and it was important to get this issue resolved as soon as possible,” says Kathleen Nave, president of the California Table Grape Commission. “This was a complex trade issue and California’s fresh grape industry was hurt as a result.”

In August of 2010, Mexico reduced the tariff to 20 percent and shipments increased over those the prior year, but did not come close to totals for 2008.

On Wednesday, U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood in Mexico City signed an agreement that ends the Mexico trucking dispute. The result will be a dropping of the existing tariffs by 50 percent this Friday, reducing the fresh grape tariff to 10 percent. And once trucking begins, the tariff will be eliminated, the grape commission says.
Ms. Nave says the commission’s marketing staff will now be able to increase their summer promotional efforts in Mexico, including consumer and retail promotions, in-store sampling and providing point-of-sale materials for key retailers across the country.