Trump’s Tariffs Send Shock Waves Through Spain’s Olive Groves
Exporters have lost U.S. business and been forced to cut jobs.
The American fighter jets roaring above Joaquín García as he strolls among the 8,000 trees on his family farm in southern Spain are a reminder of the battle the U.S. administration is waging against his cash crop. García grows olives—one more product ensnared in the dragnet of President Donald Trump’s trade wars—and his groves border the Morón Air Base, which hosts hundreds of U.S. military personnel and their families. He and others in the area say they’ve long seen it as a symbol of the close ties between Washington and Madrid.
That relationship is being put to the test after Trump slapped a 35% tariff on black Spanish table olives following complaints by American growers that Madrid unfairly subsidizes its industry. Spain is the world’s largest producer of the olives—used mainly as a topping for pizzas and salads—exporting €370 million ($413 million) worth in 2017. “If we were allies, we would be allies for everything,” says García, who’s been forced to let some of his workers go to compensate for lost sales.