California’s avocado industry is seeking new trade protections, with the California Avocado Commission launching a campaign urging for seasonal import policies. This initiative comes as U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer announced that the United States has declined to renew the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) in its current form. As Washington prepares for a critical third round of bilateral negotiations with Mexico, domestic growers are advocating for measures to address market challenges.
The Commission proposes a seasonal Tariff Rate Quota (TRQ) on Mexican avocado imports during the peak American harvest window, from March through September. Under this plan, a baseline volume of Mexican avocados would continue to enter the U.S. duty-free. However, imports exceeding that set threshold would face increased tariffs. This policy aims to alleviate pressure on American farmers, who report immense strain from foreign oversupply during their primary harvest period.
A significant concern driving this appeal is the reported escalation of organized crime within Mexico’s avocado trade. According to the Commission, shifts in the international illicit drug market have led powerful criminal syndicates to diversify operations by extorting agricultural sectors. In major Mexican production hubs such as Michoacán and Jalisco, cartels are reported to extort local growers, hijack cargo trucks, and control key points of the supply chain.
This volatile climate has reportedly led to severe disruptions in safety oversight. The California Avocado Commission has previously raised concerns that cartel threats and violence have compromised and reduced U.S. federal oversight of Mexican avocado pest inspections. Without stringent inspections, imported fruit poses a risk of introducing destructive, invasive pests into American soil, potentially threatening the entire domestic agricultural infrastructure.
The avocado has a deep history across North America. Archaeological evidence indicates indigenous populations in Mexico and Central America cultivated the fruit for thousands of years. The commercial industry in California began in 1871 with the introduction of avocado trees to Santa Barbara. The widely recognized Hass avocado, patented in 1935 by Southern California postal worker Rudolph Hass, originated from a single mother tree in La Habra Heights, an area within Orange County. This variety quickly became a global standard.
Beyond economic and safety concerns, avocados are highlighted as a vital superfood recognized for their nutritional profile. American growers emphasize that continuing to provide this crop requires addressing current trade conditions. By implementing a seasonal tariff policy, the agriculture sector hopes to protect domestic farms from being entirely supplanted by what the Commission describes as “cartel-compromised and environmentally under-regulated supply chains.”
