Скачать или смотреть Georgia farmers worry Trump's tariffs on China could hit pecan growers hard

(13WMAZ) Georgia's pecan farmers, still recovering from a dramatic drop in Chinese exports after 2017's trade dispute, now face new challenges as President Trump's latest round of tariffs takes effect.

The impact reaches deep into Georgia's agricultural heartland, where farms like Lane Southern Orchards in Peach County have already adapted to shipping just a fraction of what they once sent to China.

"I would say that containers we load for Chinese export now is probably in the 20 to 30% range of what we did prior to 2017," said Mark Sanchez, CEO of Lane Southern Orchards. "It was dramatic, a dramatic decrease."

While tariffs against Mexico and Canada have been paused for 30 days pending negotiations, the Chinese tariffs went into effect overnight. U.S. pecan exporters now face a 52% tariff from Chinese buyers, compared to just 7% for competitors from Mexico and South Africa.

The latest round of tariffs brings different concerns for pecan producers. Rather than worry about export markets, farmers are watching their operational costs.

"The tariffs will impact us on the other side and what we buy, all of the goods and services that we buy here to run our business," Sanchez said. "We're facing the same prospects as everybody else that those prices may go up, hopefully just temporarily, but it'll have an impact on us on the expense side."

Since the first round of tariffs in 2017, the industry has worked to diversify, exploring new markets in Europe, the Middle East, and India. However, developing these new relationships takes time.

"The industry organizations are working really hard at developing new markets," Sanchez said. "But it's a slow-moving process. It doesn't happen overnight."

Local consumers worry about the broader economic impact of escalating trade tensions.

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