You may or may not be aware of a new import tax that is now being levied on products imported from Colombia, Ecuador, Bolivia and Peru. The import duties are now being applied because an extension of the Andean Trade and Drug Eradication Program was not re-signed into law last week, and the original act had expired. The original act has been in place for almost twenty years and allowed for free trade of products between these countries and the United States.
Import duties on flowers range from 3.2% on the low end to 6.8% on the high end. These duties have to be paid by the importer of record within ten days of importation.
The negative effect of this import duty is higher costs for the flowers that we all rely on to run our businesses. The Association of Floral Importers of Florida is encouraging flower industry members to contact their local representatives to complain about the import duties and higher costs due to the ATPDEA not being re-signed. It is our hope that the ATPDEA will be renewed quickly to allow for free trade between these countries, however we do not know how long this will take. In the meantime all of us have to incur a higher cost for imported products.
Click here to view a sample letter from AFIF encouraging you to voice your concern. Also included, is a copy of the letter from AFIF explaining the import duty. It is important to know that all flowers imported from these countries are subject to this import duty so the whole industry is affected.
We will keep you abreast of the situation as we learn more information.
Sincerely,
Tim Dewey
VP Fresh Procurement and Web Business
tdewey@dvwf.com
