Normalizing trade may bear fruit for US apples

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Chinese agriculture officials are close to allowing Washington state's Red and Golden Delicious apples back into China next month after a two-year ban. It is unclear whether that will also open up the US import of apples from China, which produces half the world's apples.

"The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service and our counterparts in China are working closely toward normalizing trade in apples," Workabeba Yigzaw, a spokeswoman for the US Department of Agriculture, said in a statement. "We look forward to enhancing our bilateral trade relationship and continuing our work toward this mutually beneficial goal with China."

The ban was imposed on Washington, which supplies 80 percent of America's apples, after a shipment to China in early 2017 was declared to be carrying "post-harvest diseases."

The two varieties were the only US apples allowed in China. They began being imported in 1993, with about 500,000 boxes shipped annually.

US agriculture officials challenged the ban last year, claiming that any diseases in the 2017 shipment only affected crabapples for pollination.

According to the Northwest Horticultural Council, agriculture representatives from both countries met in Xiamen, China, in November, and agreed to new inspections by Chinese officials of Golden Delicious and Red Delicious apples in Washington.

The USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service also drew up a pest list for Chinese imports, which signals that the US government is moving toward opening up the market for Chinese apples, according to the US Apple Association.

US apple sellers are concerned about what that might mean for their fruit, noting that the import of apple juice to the US from China began in the 1990s, and it's contributed to Chinese apple juice brands dominating the US market.

However, China is likely to triple its imports of apples in the next decade, according to Desmond O'Rourke, a Washington State University agriculture economics professor who monitors Asian imports of fruits.

With a surplus forecast of 15 million bushels of apples in Washington over the next few years because of increased planting, Washington growers hope to cash in on the growing Chinese market, even as the potential opening of the US market will possibly have them competing with Chinese brands at home.

Questions:

1. What American product might soon be allowed to return to China?

2. What is China’s apple capacity?

3. When did China begin importing American apples?

Answers:

1. Washington state's Red and Golden Delicious apples.

2. China produces half the world's apples.

3. In 1993.

About the broadcaster:

Nelly Min is an editor at China Daily with more than 10 years of experience as a newspaper editor and photographer. She has worked at major newspapers in the U.S., including the Los Angeles Times and the Detroit Free Press. She is also fluent in Korean.