Mexican avocado exports steady ahead of Super Bowl despite US tariff tension

Mexican avocado growers will ship about 110,000 metric tons of the "green gold" fruit to the United States ahead of Sunday's Super Bowl, as threatened U.S. tariffs that could have derailed exports were paused before taking effect.

The Mexican avocado packers and exporters association APEAM said the figure is similar to last year's shipments ahead of the National Football League championship game, indicating the lucrative trade avoided major disruptions this season despite a pledge by U.S. President Donald Trump to slap a 25% tariff on all Mexican imports.

The U.S. paused the tariffs for a month after Mexico agreed to crack down on fentanyl trafficking.

Mexican avocados, hugely popular in the U.S. as the main ingredient of guacamole, mainly come from Michoacan state, the only place that has four avocado seasons instead of one, allowing for uninterrupted harvesting.

Farmers in Michoacan would feel significant pain from the U.S. tariff, which was estimated to spike prices by 10% to 20%.

"Growers in Michoacan are mostly individual people or family-owned orchards, some of them are Indigenous people," said Viridiana Hernandez Fernandez, a historian at the University of Iowa specializing in Mexican avocados. "They are in a very vulnerable position with these negotiations."

The rapid expansion of Mexico's avocado heartland has fueled deforestation over the last decade, pressured by growing demand for the fruit by U.S. consumers.

The environmental damage has prompted lawsuits brought by the U.S. nonprofit Organic Consumers Association against importers West Pak Avocado and Fresh Del Monte Produce for labeling Mexican avocados as sustainable or responsibly sourced.

Michoacan's state government launched a certification program to discourage U.S. companies from purchasing avocados sourced from orchards that were illegally deforested since 2018.

Michoacan announced that some major importers, including West Pak, Mission, Calavo and others, had joined the certification program, a group that represents about 31% of exports to the U.S. last year. Fresh Del Monte is not a participant.