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January 15, 2016 CapitalPress.com 5 Mexico sets tariffs on some apple exporters By DAN WHEAT Capital Press YAKIMA, Wash. — Mex- ico has imposed temporary tariffs on U.S. apples based on allegations of apple dumping in 2013, but several industry leaders say the impact proba- bly won’t be too bad. Companies with no tariff, such as Yakima’s Washington Fruit & Produce, may ship more of its fruit to Mexico opening the door for storms and companies such as his By JOHN O’CONNELL Capital Press to enter Idaho. own with high tariffs may This winter, a strong El ship less, said Mark Zirkle, Following a wet Decem- Nino pattern — marked by president of Rainier and ber throughout most of Idaho, ZDUP 3DFL¿F 2FHDQ ZDWHU Zirkle fruit companies, Selah. climate experts say the state’s near the equator — has forced The industry will probably weather patterns have taken a storms to enter Idaho from still ship 9 million boxes of dry turn in January. the southwest, Abramovich apples to Mexico this season December ended with said. He said Idaho also ben- which is in the normal range strong snowpacks throughout H¿WHGIURPVWRUPV³VSLQQLQJ but down from the record 16 the Southern Idaho moun- out of the Northwest.” million shipped there last year tains, ranging from 160 to The weather patterns from Washington’s largest 190 percent of normal. The shifted again to start Janu- crop, Zirkle said. snowpack is especially deep ary, however. Abramovich Tom Riggan, general in the southwestern Bruneau said the majority of Idaho manager of Chelan Fresh and Owyhee basins, which received just 20 to 30 per- Marketing, agreed 9 million are coming off of consecutive cent of its normal snowpack boxes remains a reasonable years of severe drought. through Jan. 8. The notable expectation and said most The snowpack was 135 exception to the recent dry companies are still seeking percent of normal in the trend has been the Bear Riv- FODUL¿FDWLRQ RI ZKDW ZLOO EH state’s west-central moun- er drainage, which received paid at the border. Mexico’s tains, 125 to 140 percent of its normal January moisture Ministry of Economia sets normal in the Salmon and GXULQJ WKH ¿UVW ZHHN RI WKH the duties but the Ministry Big Wood drainages, slight- month, after being missed by of Agriculture determines ly below normal in both the December storms. what’s collected at the bor- Northern Panhandle and East- “The pattern appears to der, Riggan said. ern Idaho’s Upper Snake Riv- be changing with more of As of Jan. 10, Washington er region and just 66 percent the storms down there now,” had shipped 2 million boxes of normal in the Bear River Abramovich said. “It appears of apples to Mexico so far in drainage near Stewart Dam. we’re in a dry spell for a little this season compared with Ron Abramovich, water bit.” 3.1 million at the same point supply specialist with the Jan. 15 marks the midpoint a year ago. Fewer Washing- Natural Resources Conser- of the snow season. Though ton Red and Golden Deli- vation Service, explained the extended forecast calls for cious apples and a stronger during the past two winters, more dry weather, Abramov- dollar lessening Mexican a pocket of warm ocean ich said the weather pattern importers’ buying power will ZDWHU LQ WKH 1RUWK 3DFL¿F is active and he’s optimistic hurt exports more than the forced the jet stream around storms will return. tariffs, Riggan said. Zirkle WKH 3DFL¿F 1RUWKZHVW FDXV- In the Upper Snake, this agreed. ing storms to track along the winter has been a return to The tariffs are muted by Continental Divide and blan- normal following two excep- three major shippers still be- ket the Snake River head- tional winters, when the storm ing allowed to ship at zero waters in Wyoming by the track inundated the system’s tariff, others at low tariffs Idaho border. Late this fall, headwaters, despite largely and Washington has a small- that pocket turned colder, bypassing Idaho. er crop this year with a large John O’Connell/Capital Press Snow-capped mountains are visible from Bonneville Ridge in Inkom, Idaho. Idaho’s snowpack is relatively strong, following a wet December, but the weather has been drier to start January. Idaho weather switches from wet to dry Dan Wheat/Capital Press Workers load Fuji apples onto trays for packing at Washington Fruit & Produce, Yakima, Wash., Dec. 8. Some Fuji and Gala go to Mexico, but mainly Red and Golden Delicious. part of it already sold, said Chris Schlect, president of the Northwest Horticultural Council in Yakima. Heavy U.S. apple ship- ments to Mexico traditional- ly are from January through April after the Mexican do- mestic crop is mostly sold out. Mexico is the largest export market of U.S. apples. Mexico announced the tariffs Jan. 6 to take effect Jan. 7 and remain in place un- til its investigation of dump- ing allegations is complete. The Ministry of Economia LQGLFDWHV WKHUH LV ³VXI¿FLHQW evidence” that U.S. compa- nies sold apples in Mexico at discriminatory prices, damag- ing Mexican apple producers, according to a USDA GAIN (Global Agricultural Informa- tion Network) report of Jan. 7. More than 40 Washing- ton apple packers responded to a Ministry of Economia questionnaire a year ago and 12 were chosen for further review to determine if they would be assessed a duty. Riggan said Chelan Fresh Marketing was dropped from the 12 that then became 11 and that he doesn’t know why. According to the GAIN report, the tariff on Zirkle Fruit Co. is 20.82 percent. The company is working to get that lowered, Mark Zirkle said. The report lists: Broetje Orchards, Prescott, at 17.22 percent; Stemilt Growers, Wenatchee, at 10.14; Northern Fruit, East Wenatchee, 9.45; Chiawana, Yakima, 8.27; Gilbert Orchards, Yakima, 7.39; Custom Apple Packers, Wenatchee, 5.55; and Evans Fruit, Cowiche, 2.44. Washington Fruit & Pro- duce, Yakima, Monson Fruit Co., Selah, and CPC Interna- tional Apple Co., Tieton, are all listed at zero tariff. Producer-exporters who were among the 40 respond- ing to the questionnaire but not among the 12 audited are at 7.55 percent and all others who didn’t respond to the questionnaire are at 20.82 per- cent, Zirkle and Riggan said. Companies with zero or low tariffs cannot acquire fruit from a company with high tariffs and ship it to Mexico, Zirkle said. “It has to be from your own storage,” he said. “With our prices already high compared to last year and our strong dollar, this will slow exports to Mexico even more. The question is how much product still goes from those at zero,” said Desmond O’Rourke, a retired Washing- ton State University agricul- tural economist in Pullman. Todd Fryhover, president of the Washington Apple Commission which promotes exports, could not be reached for comment. Northwest Fruit Export- ers, Yakima, which manag- es export procedures for the industry, issued a statement saying it is evaluating next steps, believes the anti-dump- LQJ GXWLHV DUH XQMXVWL¿HG DQG is disappointed Mexico didn’t terminate the investigation and dismiss the petition. El Nino conditions already weakening tern, fed by a dominant sub- tropical southern jet stream, is typical for a strong El Nino SACRAMENTO — As ro- winter, Mead said in an email. bust storms continue to move But uncertainty is emerging through California, El Nino as to whether the pattern will FRQGLWLRQVLQWKH3DFL¿F2FHDQ remain for the entire winter, are already starting to weaken, particularly for Northern Cal- a National Weather Service ex- ifornia, she said. pert says. “The precipitation and Sea surface temperatures snowpack for this winter are LQ WKH HTXDWRULDO 3DFL¿F WKDW still going to be storm-by- serve as a key fuel for the storm dependent,” Mead said. weather phenomenon are “As we’ve stated before, even starting to cool, although a an average winter will not save strong El Nino is expected to XVIURPDIRXU\HDUGH¿FLW´ persist in the Northern Hemi- Sea-surface and atmospher- sphere through the winter, said ic conditions are expected to Michelle Mead, a National return to neutral by late spring Weather Service warning co- or early summer, marking an ordinator. end to the current El Nino. The current weather pat- The update comes as a By TIM HEARDEN Capital Press steady stream of storms have been pelting California since late fall, giving the Sierra Ne- vada 103 percent of its normal snowpack as of Jan. 11. Howev- er, the mountains have still only accumulated 45 percent of their average snowpack for April 1, according to the state Depart- ment of Water Resources. In addition, many areas are struggling to maintain average seasonal precipitation. For in- stance, Redding has sopped up 4.7 inches of rain for the month as of Jan. 12, well above its normal 2.2 inches for the period, but its 14.57 inches since Oct. 1 is slightly behind its average of 15.05 inches, ac- cording to the National Weath- er Service. 3-4/#5 49-2/#8