Blue Diamond Growers Urges Swift Passage of USMCA as United States Lifts Retaliatory Tariffs

SACRAMENTO, Calif., May 18, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Blue Diamond Growers, a nonprofit grower-owned cooperative and the world's leading processor and marketer of almonds, applauds the deal reached by the United States, Canada and Mexico to remove the Section 232 tariffs from the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) and urges its timely passage. The USMCA represents a renewal of the decades-long partnership between the three countries and is critical to the prosperity and economic stability of every almond grower within the country.

Mexico and Canada are key markets for the industry with exports valuing at $256 million. Blue Diamond has recently entered into a new business partnership in Mexico and continues to export heavily into Canada. With the recently projected almond crop at 2.5 billion pounds, the USMCA allows for additional opportunities of growth and expansion into these markets. However, failure to approve the agreement would have significant implications on the almond business within the region.

On behalf of our 3,000 grower-owners and as the country's largest almond exporter, Blue Diamond Growers strongly encourages Congress to support the nation's almond and agriculture industries and swiftly ratify the USMCA.

About Blue Diamond? 
Blue Diamond Growers is the world's leading almond marketer and processor. It led the development of California's almond industry since it was formed as a nonprofit, grower-owned cooperative over 100 years ago. Today Blue Diamond has over 3,000 growers across California. Blue Diamond markets and sells a wide range of almond-based snacks, beverages, and ingredients, including Blue Diamond Snack Almonds®, Nut-Thins® crackers, almond flour, and the number one almondmilk in the U.S., Almond Breeze®. For more information, visit www.bluediamond.com.

SOURCE Blue Diamond Growers