India to Change Pecan Tariff From 100% to 30%

India will lower its tariffs on imported pecans from 100% to 30%, according to its proposed 2023 budget, a longtime priority of U.S. pecan growers.

Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., trumpeted the change Feb. 1, and argued that his advocacy with Indian officials and pushes from top Office of U.S. Trade Representative officials were the reasons why. “India’s high pecan tariffs have prevented Georgia pecan exports to this market of more than one billion consumers. Today I can announce that after a year of painstaking diplomacy, the Indian government will cut that tariff by 70%," Ossoff said in a news release, crediting U.S. Trade Representative Ambassador Katherine Tai, Indian Ambassador Taranjit Singh Sandhu and Sen. Raphael Warnock, D-Ga., with helping to get the change "and Georgia’s farmers for their perseverance to secure this victory."

National Pecan Federation Chairman Larry Don Womack called the change “great news for the pecan industry. NPF has worked hard over the last few years on reducing this tariff to open the U.S. pecan export market to India," Pecan South Magazine reported. "Pecans are grown in 15 states and have a significant impact on these rural economies. Opening the India market will be a great opportunity for our industry to expand and grow,” Womack said.