NAFTA Renegotiation Could Send Avocado Prices Soaring

If you plan on having guacamole during the football season, be prepared to pay a little more.  Avocado prices have reached a record high and a new NAFTA agreement could have U.S. consumers paying even more for the fruit.

A group of avocado companies recently wrote the U.S. Trade Representative’s Office predicting prices could rise, depending on whether the Trump administration[, in renegotiating NAFTA, ]changes rules on anti-dumping and countervailing duties.  The letter states: “Once seasonal tariffs are put in place for tomatoes, for example, Mexico or Canada may initiate trade cases of their own on any of a wide range of U.S. agricultural products, beginning a tit-for-tat cycle that could broadly limit agricultural trade.”

In the winter, when California isn’t growing avocados, Mexico supplies 75% to 80% of all the avocados Americans eat.  According to Bloomberg, Americans eat a lot of avocados, more than seven pounds of them, per capita last year.

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