Call rises to pare India pecans levy

For the nation’s pecan farmers, India is a tough nut to crack.

The country with the world’s second-largest population places a roughly 36% tariff on the tasty American tree nuts. Almond and pistachio imports, on the other hand, face tariffs of roughly 10%.

Now a dozen southern and southwestern lawmakers, including U.S. Sens. John Boozman and Tom Cotton, both Arkansas Republicans, are urging U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer to do all he can to level the playing field for American pecan growers.

In a letter dated Sept. 20, they questioned the rationale for high pecan tariffs, noting that India’s domestic pecan industry is “virtually nonexistent.”

Lower pecan tariffs, they argued, would benefit nut-loving Indians and nut-growing American farmers without undermining Indian farmers.

“Reducing trade barriers into India is an opportunity to strengthen the economy of rural America,” the letter stated.

India is “one of the most dynamic and fasted growing markets” in the world, the lawmakers noted. Since 1960, its population has nearly tripled, rising from roughly 450 million to roughly 1.35 billion today.

Pecans are native to the United States and northern Mexico and have flourished in much of the American South. Since 1919, the pecan has been Texas’ state tree. Arkansas adopted the pecan as its state nut in 2009.

The “pecan industry” pumps $3.57 billion into the economy of 15 American states, the lawmakers stated.

Planning to visit the nation’s capital? Know something happening in Washington, D.C.? Please contact Frank Lockwood at (202) 662-7690 or flockwood@arkansasonline.com. Want the latest from the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette’s Washington bureau? It’s available on Twitter, @LockwoodFrank.