Olive Oil Industry Pushes for Tariff Exemption at D.C. Event

Summary

The Olive Oil World Congress in Washington, D.C., focused on advo­cat­ing for olive oil’s exemp­tion from tar­iffs due to its health ben­e­fits and the U.S.‘s insuf­fi­cient pro­duc­tion. The event high­lighted the poten­tial impact of tar­iffs on con­sumer access to olive oil, par­tic­u­larly among lower-income house­holds, and empha­sized the impor­tance of edu­ca­tion and pol­icy sup­port for domes­tic olive oil pro­duc­tion.

A recent Olive Oil World Congress event in Washington, D.C., came amid con­tin­ued uncer­tainty about the United States’s trade pol­icy.

About one week after it announced sweep­ing rec­i­p­ro­cal tar­iffs on nearly every coun­try, President Donald J. Trump announced a 90-day pause to these tar­iffs, opt­ing to keep a base rate of ten per­cent in place instead.

Organizers, includ­ing the North American Olive Oil Association (NAOOA), said the event is part of an ongo­ing effort to lobby for olive oil’s exemp­tion from any tar­iff regime.

“The event focused on the health ben­e­fits of extra vir­gin olive oil and strate­gies to pro­mote its use among Americans,” Joseph R. Profaci, the NAOOA’s exec­u­tive direc­tor, told Olive Oil Times. 

“It was­n’t about tar­iffs, and we did­n’t talk about tar­iffs directly,” he added. ​“But we did dis­cuss the two rea­sons why olive oil should be exempted.”

The first rea­son is the uniquely healthy pro­file of extra vir­gin olive oil, sup­ported by decades of sci­en­tific research. ​“The sec­ond rea­son is that the U.S. does­n’t pro­duce enough olive oil,” Profaci said. 

Over the past 30 years, extra vir­gin olive oil con­sump­tion has tripled in the United States.

However, U.S. pro­duc­ers lament insuf­fi­cient aware­ness about olive oil’s health ben­e­fits. 

According to esti­mates from the International Olive Council (IOC), the U.S. is expected to con­sume 398,000 met­ric tons of olive oil dur­ing the 2024/25 crop year, sur­pass­ing Italy’s esti­mated 395,000 tons. Globally, only Spain is pro­jected to con­sume more, at 460,000 tons. 

IOC data show that in 2014/15, U.S. olive oil con­sump­tion reached 295,000 tons, com­pared to slightly more than 115,000 tons in 1994/1995. 

“Despite fluc­tu­a­tions in recent years, U.S. pro­duc­tion never exceeded 15,000 tons per year,” Profaci empha­sized, high­light­ing the vast gap between domes­tic pro­duc­tion and demand. 

Around half of U.S. olive oil con­sump­tion occurs on the East Coast, with most pro­duc­tion con­cen­trated in California, where sus­tained peri­ods of drought and pro­duc­tion costs have ham­pered pro­duc­ers.

“Olive oil is a cor­ner­stone of the Mediterranean diet. Even mod­est increases in its use by Americans could sig­nif­i­cantly impact pub­lic health,” Profaci said. 

“For exam­ple, research found that even a 20 per­cent increase in adher­ence to the Mediterranean diet would save the American health­care sys­tem $20 (€17.7) bil­lion annu­ally,” he added. 

However, tar­iffs are expected to drive olive oil prices higher for American con­sumers. 

“That wor­ries me because tar­iffs risk depriv­ing those who most need access to this healthy prod­uct,” Profaci said. ​“We know from recent expe­ri­ence what hap­pens when prices rise. In 2024, two mil­lion fewer American house­holds pur­chased olive oil com­pared to 2023.” 

“Upon closer exam­i­na­tion, nearly all those house­holds had annual incomes under $100,000 (€88,400),” he added. ​“Unfortunately, lower-income fam­i­lies, who likely ben­e­fit the most from improved diets and health out­comes, will suf­fer dis­pro­por­tion­ately from these tar­iffs.” 

Obesity rates are notably higher among lower-income pop­u­la­tions. Citing recent research from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Profaci high­lighted olive oil’s poten­tial as a health­ier replace­ment for com­monly used fats. 

“One of the most inter­est­ing recent stud­ies found that amid America’s obe­sity cri­sis, olive oil con­sump­tion is inversely asso­ci­ated with weight gain, unlike other fats, includ­ing veg­etable oils,” Profaci said. 

This evi­dence is among the rea­sons moti­vat­ing pro­duc­ers and stake­hold­ers to engage pol­i­cy­mak­ers actively.

During the Washington, D.C., event, a round­table with Dani Neirenberg of Food Tank dis­cussed strate­gies for increas­ing domes­tic olive oil pro­duc­tion. Participants agreed that edu­ca­tion is key. 

“We need to edu­cate con­sumers to drive demand, farm­ers to rec­og­nize the eco­nomic and mar­ket poten­tial in olive cul­ti­va­tion and pol­i­cy­mak­ers to under­stand the long-term ben­e­fits of pro­mot­ing olive oil pro­duc­tion in the U.S.,” Profaci said. 

According to Profaci, the cur­rent tar­iffs neg­a­tively affect the indus­try’s present and future.

“They inter­rupt a trend of con­sumers mov­ing away from seed oils toward olive oil,” he warned. ​“Consumers typ­i­cally begin with basic olive oil prod­ucts, become edu­cated, and grad­u­ally choose higher-qual­ity olive oils over time.” 

Profaci noted that this ben­e­fi­cial cycle helped main­tain over­all con­sump­tion lev­els despite recent short­ages and a 25 per­cent price increase. 

“By inter­rupt­ing the entry­way here, it’s a prob­lem for the indus­try in the long term,” Profaci added. 

At the Washington event, an olive oil pro­ducer sug­gested that tar­iffs might ben­e­fit pro­duc­ers by rais­ing prices. Profaci dis­agreed. 

“In the end, it hurts us because our growth depends on expand­ing the con­sumer base. Higher prices mean fewer poten­tial life­long cus­tomers,” he said. 

The event, co-orga­nized by NAOOA, also aimed to secure sup­port for pro­duc­ers’ appli­ca­tions regard­ing estab­lish­ing a stan­dard of iden­tity and an ag-prod­uct pro­mo­tion group through a research and pro­mo­tion order. 

“Olive oil is good for our health and as a sus­tain­able prod­uct, the health of our planet. Two fac­tors that should be on the top of pol­i­cy­mak­ers’ pri­or­ity list,” Profaci con­cluded.