The Trump administration’s tariffs might be a concern for some companies, but as one of the U.S.'s largest family-owned and -operated garlic farms, Christopher Ranch says the additional tariff on Chinese imports will continue to strengthen the growth of the California-grown garlic market.
Christopher Ranch said it successfully worked with the government in 2018 to enact a 25% tariff on Chinese garlic that remains in effect today, and with the new administration’s two rounds of 10% tariffs, Chinese garlic is now impacted with a 45% tariff. That will make a tremendous difference for domestic garlic industry and employment in the garlic capital of the world, Gilroy, Calif.,” the company said in a news release.
“While we understand that tariffs and trade wars may not be in the best interest of our nation in the long run, there are industries that can and will benefit from these actions and can result in increased domestic production, increased employment, greater food safety and a more stable supply chain,” said Ken Christopher, executive vice president of Christopher Ranch. “In protecting and promoting domestic industry, this administration’s decision will likely benefit the specialty crops in the U.S. agriculture industry.”
Christopher Ranch said U.S. garlic growers have been negatively impacted since the early 1990s when China was flooding the U.S. with product and selling it below the cost of production. This is a trade practice known as dumping — when companies or countries artificially sell below the price of production to gain market share.
While there used to be 12 commercial-scale garlic farms in U.S., due to the illegal practice of dumping Chinese product, there are now only three, the release said.
“Christopher Ranch is proud to be the nation’s largest producer of U.S.-grown garlic products, and while we understand the complexity of this macroeconomic situation, we fully support efforts that protect specialty crop farmers,” the company said in the release.
