Source: POLITICO'S MORNING AGRICULTURE, 7/19/18

The bounty of Washington state's cherry harvest is already feeling the sting of China's retaliatory tariffs. It's one of a number of U.S. agriculture products reeling from the tit-for-tat trade fight that has put U.S. farmers in the crosshairs, according to testimony from a panel of farmers who appeared in front of the House Ways and Means Trade Subcommittee on Wednesday.

Cass Gebbers, president and CEO of Washington-based Gebbers Farms, a major apple and cherry growing operation, said he's already expecting to have to reduce the exports of cherries he ships to China. He said his business usually exports about 1.5 million boxes — representing about half of the total 3 million boxes of cherries Washington growers export to China in a year. But this year, Gebbers may only be sending a third of that amount because of the tariffs.

"Those boats have been rerouted to Vietnam or Taiwan, or they've been stuffed back into the U.S. market, which is creating extra supply and forcing down prices," he said. "All of this at the expense of our growers."

Passing the price on to the Chinese consumers hasn't been an option. Gebbers said an attempt to increase the price from an average of $8 per pound to between $10 and $11 per pound didn't work as Chinese retailers canceled orders and demand went to zero.

"We're going to have lay some families off or get rid of some guys. We have to figure out how to make it work in these tight margins," he said. "We can't just pass these prices on."