Senator Launches Campaign To Open Foreign Markets To More Grape Juice

Posted by Christina Herrick|November 17, 2014

U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer has made a push to lower Israel’s tariff on U.S. grape juice that, if reduced or lifted, could enable Western New York, Southern Tier, and Finger Lakes growers to sell more grapes.

Schumer urged the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) and USDA, who are currently in the midst of trade negotiations with Israel, to prioritize lowering or eliminating this tariff, which has already been successfully lowered during previous trade negotiations. Schumer said that any improvements to the tariff would be a boon to local Upstate New York grape growers because it would further open up Israel’s market and help stabilize prices.

“Grape juice is a staple at Israeli dinner tables and opening up Israel’s market, and any other foreign market, to more American grape juice exports would be a tremendous boon to Upstate New York grape growers,” said Schumer.

Currently, Israel imposes a 22% tax on all grape juice exported from the U.S. to Israel in excess of 100,000 liters. This tariff has prevented American-made grape juice from effectively competing in Israel, and has cut down on potential exports. Schumer said Israel should be a prime destination for U.S. grape juice due to the fact that there are more than one million Americans living in the county and because grape juice plays such an important role in the local culture, diet, and religion.

Schumer said that not only is this low 100,000-liter quota unfair and the tariff too high, it is not on par with tariffs on grape juice exports to Israel from other countries. For example, Schumer noted, grape juice exports from the European Union into Israel are taxed after 230,000 liters, allowing companies in Europe to export 130,000 more liters into Israel than a U.S. company before being taxed. In addition, Schumer said, the U.S. does not impose any quota on Israeli grape juice exports into the U.S.