MEXICO OVERTAKES BRAZIL AS LARGEST ORANGE JUICE EXPORTER TO USA

A survey by CitrusBR using data from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) shows that over the last 28 years, American imports of Mexican FCOJ jumped from 9,772 tons to 74,680 tons in 2019, a growth of 664.2%, driven by the exemption from North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) tariffs. As a result, orange juice exports from Mexico to the United States overturned Brazil’s leadership in orange juice exports to the American market. Mexico’s share of the US market went from 6% to 46%.  In the same period, sales from Brazil dropped 50.7%, from 144,538 tons to 71,114 tons in 2019. The Brazilian share, which was 89% in 1993, dropped to 44% last year.

The explanation for the advance of the Mexican product lies in the difference in tariff regimes. Since 2008, Mexico has been exempt from tariffs for placing its juice in the USA because of NAFTA. Brazilian juice is taxed at US$ 415.86 per ton to access that market. In the period between 2008 and 2019 alone, Brazilian FCOJ was taxed US$ 548 million in import tax, while Mexico was exempt from paying what would have been an import tax of US$ 405 million due to NAFTA terms.

Source: Comex do Brasil

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