Spain has asked the USA to remove olive oil tariffs. Image source: Pixabay
Spain’s economy minister has asked the USA to exempt olive oil and other Spanish products from its new 15% tariff on imports from the European Union (EU), claiming that the measure risked deepening pressures on producers and disrupting the world’s second largest olive oil market, Olive Oil Times reported.
Carlos Cuerpo had requested talks with US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnik and trade representative Jamieson Greer on the sidelines of a broader meeting between European ministers and US officials to implement the trade agreement reached earlier this year, the 26 November report said.
After the meeting, Cuerpo was quoted as telling local media that adding olive oil to the list of tariff-exempt products would support Spanish producers and benefit the USA – the world’s second largest olive oil market that only produces enough oil to cover about 2% of domestic demand.
In September, Spain’s Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food’s olive oil foreign trade bulletin showed that export volumes to the USA increased by more than 14% in the first eight months of the 2024/25 crop year, which began in October.
However, export values dropped by approximately 50%.
According to the Coordinator of Farmers’ and Ranchers’ Organizations (COAG) – Spain’s oldest national agricultural association – the drop in export revenues was mainly due to speculation about the 2025/26 harvest and falling prices at origin.
Spain’s rebound harvest in 2024/25 had also boosted export volumes after two historically poor seasons in 2022/23 and 2023/24, which had sharply reduced overseas shipments, Olive Oil Times wrote.
“It’s illogical to try to blame US tariffs for the economic losses,” Francisco Elvira, secretary-general of COAG Jaén, was quoted as saying.
“The truth is that export volume has increased and the profitability difficulties are due to an international drop in prices.”
According to analysis by the Spanish newspaper El Economista, the effect of the tariffs may begin to show with the start of the new harvest.
Olive oil exports to the USA fell by 31% in June 2025 compared with the previous year, the data showed.
The decline was widely attributed to importers frontloading shipments ahead of the tariff’s introduction, a trend some industry observers believed could continue into 2026, Olive Oil Times wrote.
Spanish producers were also concerned that US buyers could shift to alternative suppliers in Morocco and, to a lesser extent, in Argentina and Chile, which all face a 10% tariff, according to the report.
In addition, there was concern that market penetration would weaken as US retail prices were not expected to fall in line with declining prices at origin.
Joseph R Profaci, the executive director of the North American Olive Oil Association, told ABC Sevilla that tariffs were preventing US prices from easing.
“This year, we expect a very productive harvest, but prices won’t fall due to the tariffs,” he was quoted as saying.
“This will suppress the anticipated growth in consumption; communities and households earning less than US$70,000 a year will buy less.”
Rafael Pico Lapuente, head of international promotion at the Spanish Olive Oil Interprofessional Organization, views the tariffs as a short-term obstacle within a longer-term trend of growing US consumption and rising demand for Spanish olive oil.
“We anticipate it will always have some impact on Spanish exports to the USA, but I don’t think it will be too significant,” he told ABC Sevilla, noting that all major producers face comparable tariffs.
“Spain, Italy, Greece and Portugal have a 15% tariff, as does Turkey, while Tunisia has 25%,” he added. “Syria has 41% and countries with a 10% tariff, such as Australia, Chile and Argentina, have much more expensive oil.”
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