标签： North America

The 2025-26 cherry season has commenced with Argentine fruits making their inaugural arrival in China, signaling intensified competition within the world’s largest cherry import market. This strategic move positions Argentina as a quality-focused challenger to Chile’s volumetric dominance in the Chinese fresh fruit sector.

Harvested in mid-November, these early-season Argentine cherries are targeting premium supermarket chains and e-commerce platforms ahead of the main Southern Hemisphere shipment wave in December. The timing capitalizes on cherries’ status as coveted Chinese New Year gifts and festive delicacies, creating lucrative pre-holiday demand.

Agustina Quiroga of Buenos Aires-based exporter Extraberries articulated Argentina’s competitive strategy: “Our operational advantage lies in the early production window commencing mid-November, enabling us to deliver precisely what the market demands—optimal size, color, and quality. While we cannot match Chile’s volume, we compete effectively on quality parameters from season commencement through initial fruit vessel arrivals.”

Extraberries leverages specialized cultivation techniques in Chimpay and Rio Negro regions, emphasizing rapid cold chain logistics. The company prioritizes air freight to maintain fruit firmness, color integrity, and sugar levels, creating a comparative advantage over maritime shipments. Quiroga emphasized China’s unique export protocols, noting that shipments prepared for Chinese markets require specific sampling methods and cannot be readily diverted to other destinations like European-bound consignments.

Despite Argentina’s quality-focused approach, Chile maintains overwhelming market dominance with projected 2025-26 exports reaching 131 million boxes (approximately 655,000 metric tons), according to University of Chile agricultural engineer Marcela Molina. Chile’s diversified varieties and extended growing seasons enable prolonged shipping windows, with sea freight operations scaling up through mid-November depending on regional climatic conditions.

The decade-long expansion of Chinese cherry demand catalyzed the creation of the specialized “Cherry Express” maritime service, reducing transit time to 22-23 days direct from Valparaiso and San Antonio ports to Chinese destinations. Originally focused on Hong Kong, the service has expanded to include Nansha, Shanghai, and Tianjin ports to prevent congestion.

Market data from iQfruits indicates robust pricing dynamics, with January wholesale prices peaking at 47.20 yuan/kg ($6.67), significantly higher than the previous year’s 32.10 yuan/kg. This price surge demonstrates how constrained early and mid-season supply generates premium returns, though values typically decline to 26.20 yuan/kg by March as availability increases.

Climate change introduces additional complexity, prompting producers to implement protective orchard covers, relocate plantations to cooler southern regions, and develop low-chill requirement varieties. These adaptations reflect the industry’s commitment to maintaining quality standards amid evolving environmental challenges in competitive global markets.

In a significant legal confrontation with far-reaching implications for U.S. trade policy, multinational retail giant Costco has initiated litigation against the federal government to secure comprehensive refunds of import duties paid under President Donald Trump’s controversial tariff regime. The lawsuit, filed during the Thanksgiving holiday period, represents a critical challenge to presidential authority in international trade matters.

The legal action centers on whether President Trump overstepped his executive powers by imposing emergency tariffs without congressional approval under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA). Costco’s filing with the U.S. Court of International Trade argues that these tariffs were unlawfully implemented and seeks judicial declaration of their illegality.

This development comes as the Supreme Court prepares to rule on the fundamental constitutional question of presidential tariff authority. Two lower courts have already determined that Trump exceeded his authority, with the U.S. Court of International Trade first ruling the tariffs unlawful in May, a decision subsequently affirmed by the U.S. Court of Appeals.

Costco’s legal team contends that separate judicial action is necessary because refunds are not automatically guaranteed even if the Supreme Court upholds previous rulings against the tariffs. The company expressed concern that without specific court-ordered relief, it might not recover substantial funds already paid to the government.

According to U.S. customs data, importers have paid approximately $90 billion in IEEPA-related tariffs as of late September 2025. While Costco hasn’t specified the exact amount it seeks to recover, the company filed before a critical December 15, 2025 deadline after which recouping funds would become significantly more difficult.

The White House has vigorously defended the tariffs, with spokesperson Kush Desai warning that an unfavorable ruling would hamper negotiation capabilities and cost the treasury billions already collected. ‘The economic consequences of the failure to uphold President Trump’s lawful tariffs are enormous,’ Desai stated, emphasizing the administration’s expectation of a ‘speedy and proper resolution’ from the Supreme Court.

The case represents a pivotal moment in the ongoing debate over executive power versus congressional authority in trade policy, with numerous businesses awaiting the outcome to determine their own refund eligibility.

The Indian rupee plummeted to an unprecedented record low during Monday’s trading session, intensifying concerns over the currency’s stability amidst challenging global trade dynamics. Despite intervention efforts from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the currency briefly touched 89.7575 against the US dollar before settling at 89.5475, reflecting a 0.1% daily decline.

Market analysts attribute this deterioration primarily to India’s unique position as one of the few major economies without a comprehensive trade agreement with the United States. This structural disadvantage has created persistent bearish pressure on the currency throughout 2025, even as India maintains its status as the world’s fastest-growing major economy.

The currency’s vulnerability was exacerbated by maturing non-deliverable forward (NDF) positions that triggered substantial selling pressure. Traders confirmed that only aggressive dollar-selling interventions by the central bank prevented the rupee from breaching the psychologically critical 90-per-dollar threshold.

Recent data reveals the RBI’s intensified efforts to stabilize the currency, with short forward dollar positions surging to $63.6 billion in October. This represents the central bank’s most robust defensive maneuver against currency depreciation pressures.

ANZ Bank analysts warn that without tariff reductions, the rupee could weaken further to approximately 91.30 by late 2026. They note that slowing export growth combined with tariffs reaching 50% on Indian exports creates significant risks to India’s current account and balance of payments. The analysis suggests that a potential trade deal reducing tariffs to 15-20% could catalyze a recovery to 88-88.50 levels, though the RBI might counter such strength to rebuild foreign exchange reserves, which currently stand at $688.1 billion.

The rupee’s weakness extended to cross-currency benchmarks, hitting a record low of 12.69 against the offshore Chinese yuan. Meanwhile, the dollar index registered modest declines while Asian currencies displayed mixed performance throughout the trading session.