World’s largest olive oil producer warns U.S. consumers of a double whammy from Trump tariffs

Spain's Deoleo, the world's largest olive lipid producer, says U.S. President Donald Trump's menace to enforce 30% tariffs connected imports from the European Union could construe into higher prices for U.S. consumers — arsenic good arsenic constricted entree to a superfood staple.

Trump has threatened to rise tariffs connected the 27-member bloc from Aug. 1, successful what would people a steep leap from the existent 10% duty.

The EU has agelong been scrambling to scope a commercialized woody with the U.S. and is considering its options up of Trump's deadline, including the imaginable of countermeasures.

Huge uncertainty persists implicit whether the U.S. and EU tin onslaught a woody implicit the coming days, though a blockbuster model agreement betwixt the U.S. and Japan has raised hopes of a breakthrough.

Deoleo, the shaper of household olive lipid brands specified arsenic Bertolli and Carbonell, told CNBC that the Trump administration's commercialized measures could person an interaction connected American consumers, peculiarly fixed constricted U.S. production.

"It is worthy noting that astir 95% of the olive lipid consumed successful the U.S. is imported, truthful specified policies volition impact extremity users," Deoleo CEO Cristóbal Valdés told CNBC by email.

The Spanish institution said the U.S. accounts for much than a 4th of its full revenue, making it a strategically important market.

Around 40,000 acres (16,187 hectares) of olives are planted exclusively successful the U.S. for olive lipid production, according to the American Olive Oil Producers Association.

By comparison, the EU is known to beryllium the starring producer, user and exporter of olive oil, with astir 4 cardinal hectares (9.88 cardinal acres) dedicated to the cultivation of olive trees crossed the region.

Most of the world's proviso of olive lipid comes from the Mediterranean, with confederate European countries specified arsenic Spain, Italy and Greece among the world's starring producers of the precious commodity.

Spain, successful particular, is the biggest olive lipid shaper successful the EU and a global reference for prices.

As portion of its mentation for a higher tariffs rate, Deoleo's Valdés said the institution intends to ramp up its communication, selling and user engagement efforts to guarantee olive lipid remains an mundane staple.

"Beyond organization dialogue, we are strengthening our worth proposition successful the U.S. done user consciousness campaigns astir the benefits of olive lipid and a renewed committedness to our brands—especially Bertolli, which contiguous represents spot and consistency for American consumers," Valdés said.

Deoleo's main enforcement besides said the olive lipid shaper would proceed to support each strategical options open, portion moving connected logistics and proviso concatenation improvements to respond to antithetic marketplace scenarios.

"However, beyond tactical decisions, our main precedence is to support American consumers' entree to a nutrient merchandise that is indispensable to their health. Access to olive lipid should not beryllium penalized — it should beryllium promoted," Valdés said.

As U.S. tariffs connected EU goods archetypal came into effect successful aboriginal April, analysts astatine commodity information steadfast Expana warned that a simplification successful U.S. olive lipid imports could person "serious repercussions" for the planetary market.

They cited marketplace players arsenic saying that specified a displacement could make a proviso glut successful the EU, starring to further downward terms unit and intensifying contention among producers.

It's not conscionable olive lipid exporters that person been rattled by Trump's latest tariff threats, however. Irish whiskey firms, Italian cheesemakers and French vino producers are among those who person sounded the alarm implicit the imaginable impact.