Statement of Support: Upholding U.S.-China Phase One Commitments on Blueberry Market Access
FOLSOM, Calif., Oct. 24, 2025 – Under the terms of the U.S.-China Phase One Agreement, China agreed to open its market to U.S. fresh blueberries — a major achievement during President Trump’s first term and a milestone welcomed by the U.S. blueberry industry.
As part of that agreement, China committed to allow fresh blueberries from West Coast states to be exported under a systems approach, while requiring fumigation for berries from non-West Coast states. Fumigation, however, reduces fruit quality and places non-West Coast growers at a disadvantage. To address this, China further agreed to a pilot program enabling non-West Coast states to trap and test for pests of concern, with the goal of expanding systems approach access nationwide.
Industry partners conducted this pilot program throughout 2020-2021 and provided the resulting data to Chinese authorities in March 2022 to facilitate technical discussions. More than three-and-a-half years later, USDA has received no response or update from China regarding the review or status of this data.
The North American Blueberry Council (NABC) supports the Trump administration’s effort to hold China accountable to its obligations under the Phase One Agreement and to ensure fair and science-based treatment of all U.S. blueberries.
NABC respectfully urges the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative to seek firm commitments from Chinese regulators to approve systems-approach access for all U.S. blueberry-producing states without further delay.