MADRID, March 21 (Xinhua) -- If the U.S. government carries through its threat to impose tariffs on European olive oil, it will probably affect American consumers more than European and Spanish exporters, a Spanish industry representative said on Friday.
Spain's annual production of olive oil is around 1,400,000 tons, with 180,000 tons exported to the United States, making up approximately 40 percent of the country's total olive oil imports.
If the U.S. decides to impose tariffs, "we have to value the effect and how they could be implemented," Rafael Pico, director of the Spanish Association for the Industry and Commercial Export of Olive Oil (ASOLIVA), told Xinhua.
"If it is a general tariff, then all the countries exporting olive oil (to the U.S.) would be affected in the same way," he said, noting that the U.S. domestic production of olive oil is "very low" and could not cover domestic needs.
Bearing that in mind, "the main impact would be on the U.S. consumer, who would have to pay a higher price for olive oil," he said.
"Tariffs would have the effect of distorting the U.S. domestic market," explained Pico.
Olive oil had previously been threatened with tariffs by the first Trump administration as part of a conflict over the aeronautics industry, Pico said, adding that although the Spanish government would "always defend the country's olive oil producers," he didn't want to see the sector "be used as a bargaining chip in other disputes."
If the tariffs become a reality, the sector would "have to try and explore other markets and export to other countries," he noted. ■
