Nuts and dried fruit: new EU tariffs a clever move?
July 6, 2026 at 9:58 AM ,
Der AUDITOR
Zero duties with sunset clause and safeguard measures
As of 1 July 2026, a zero customs duty applies for several US dried fruits and a 500,000 mt tariff-rate quota for US tree nuts in the EU. These new regulations were announced in the EU’s Official Journal on 30 June following the Council of the European Union’s formal adoption of the implementation of the EU-US Joint Statement in August 2025 with the aim of stabilising the trading environment that has been disrupted by repeated turns in US tariff policies since U.S. President Donald Trump took office at the start of 2025.
Sunset clause is that the new tariff system will remain valid until 31 December 2029 and be subject to regular scrutiny as to the impact of EU agriculture. Safeguard measures are also in place as the EU will terminate all or part of the regulations should the US fail to comply with the Joint Statement.
0% for selected dried fruit imports
Regulation EU 2026/1455 effectively declares a 0% customs duty for dried sultanas (CN Code 08062030), dried grapes excluding currants and sultanas (0806 2090), dried apricots (08131000), dried prunes (08132000) and other dried fruit (08134095) along with cranberries (HS 200893). Judging by official EU import statistics, the US only holds a large market share for cranberries, and the 0% duty may help to gain shares for dried grapes and prunes. However, the EU’s main trading partners in the dried fruit sector such as Canada, Turkey and Chile along with South Africa already benefit from duty-free imports.
|
EU dried fruit imports from the US (2025) |
||||
|
Product |
mt |
1,000 EUR |
Share (mt) |
Share (EUR) |
|
Cranberries |
21,011 |
70,115 |
49.8% |
46.7% |
|
Dried grapes |
4,079 |
16,878 |
7.3% |
11.6% |
|
Dried prunes |
3,868 |
18,545 |
8.9% |
12.9% |
|
Dried sultanas |
1,745 |
5,763 |
1.2% |
1.3% |
|
Other dried fruit |
66 |
620 |
- |
- |
|
Dried apricots |
0.051 |
3 |
- |
- |
|
DG TAXUD Customs Surveillance, 01/01-31/12/25 |
||||
Tariff quota with limited impact for nuts
In addition, a 500,000 mt tariff rate quota of 0% now applies for other nuts, fresh or dried, whether or not shelled or peeled (CN 2025 code 0802), which affects almonds, hazelnuts, walnuts, pistachios, macadamia nuts and pecans, and for nuts and other seeds, including mixtures, prepared or preserved (excluding groundnuts) (CN 2025 code 200819). This is relevant for roasted almonds and pistachios. The quota volume applies for a twelve-month period starting on 1 July 2026.
In 2025, EU imports from the US relating to the most relevant nuts only slightly exceeded the 500,000 mt quota. The quota will facilitate trade, especially for almonds, pistachios, walnuts and pecans, where the US already holds large market shares. Regarding hazelnuts, exporters in Turkey as largest producing country are also not too worried as no import duties apply for roasted hazelnut shipments from Turkey to the EU and only a 3% duty for natural hazelnuts. In addition, freight costs from the US are quite high.
Almond and pistachio producers in Spain will be watching the impact quite closely. Spain’s almond producers had previously voiced their concerns about cutting tariff rates for US almonds as they are already struggling to compete against cheap imports, emphasising that market conditions are unfair as they adhere to stricter EU regulations.
|
EU nut imports from the US (2025) |
||||
|
Product |
mt |
1,000 EUR |
Share (mt) |
Share (EUR) |
|
Almonds |
254,590 |
1,377,706 |
94.1% |
94.3% |
|
Pistachios |
156,086 |
1,188,389 |
89.1% |
79.1% |
|
Walnuts |
85,010 |
492,404 |
43.2% |
47.5% |
|
Hazelnuts |
13,195 |
91,521 |
11.8% |
10.9% |
|
Pecans |
8,887 |
86,373 |
61.2% |
60.2% |
|
Prepared nuts |
1,458 |
17,896 |
0.7% |
1.2% |
|
Macadamia nuts |
51 |
516 |
0.5% |
0.4% |
|
Total |
517,819 |
3,236,909 |
- |
- |
|
DG TAXUD Customs Surveillance, 01/01-31/12/25 |
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