Blueberries cross the Canadian border often. Tariffs could complicate the industry

Overview of blueberries from Canada in the U.S. market, complemented by charts from Agronometrics. Original published on May 8, 2025.

At one of the largest blueberry farms in the U.S., there are rows and rows of bushes to the horizon. 

“This variety here is Draper,” said Ray Biln, whose family owns this sprawling farm in Franklin County, Washington state. 

Washington state is the leader in blueberry production for the U.S. But it turns out a lot of that fruit does a loop through Canada for packing, processing and cold storage — all before hitting your American cereal bowl. Now, the Trump administration’s tariffs are threatening to squeeze the blueberry industry, from both sides of the border.

There are around 800 workers to harvest just this one farm.

“Our decisions do impact other people,” Biln said.

Decisions like how to navigate tariffs. 

“That’s why it’s important to stay even keeled and try to make the best decisions in the landscape we’re given,” Biln said.  

Biln’s family has other large farms in the U.S. but also in Canada.

Biln said the blueberry industry is totally interdependent across the border. Most of his Washington fruit is processed and packaged in plastic clamshells up north in British Columbia. And then the berries come back, stickered as U.S. fruit. That means his produce could be tariffed twice: once going into Canada, and again on the return. Just the idea is putting his big plans in a blender. 

“You know, we have projects on pause now on both sides of the border,” Biln said. 

Source: Global Trade Data

Source: Global Trade Data

About 40 million pounds of Washington’s blueberries are shipped to Canada for packing or processing each year. When the berries are ripening at the height of summer, it’s go time to get them sold fresh or frozen right away. The tariffs could lead to cut-off, isolated berry islands, without access to processing or cold storage. 

“We’re going to have a very large oversupply,” said Paul Sangha, who grows berries in the very north of Washington state. Plus he distributes mass amounts of fruit around the country.

Sangha’s imagining August with loads and loads of berries in his 10-acre-shipping yard — with no place to go.

“How do we in such a short window handle that?” Sangha asked.

Alyssa Houtby is a director with the North American Blueberry Council. She’s hoping at least for some sort of silver tariff lining for U.S. blueberry producers. 

“We want to see the tariffs in Vietnam addressed, in Japan addressed, Malaysia, Taiwan,” Houtby said. 

Those are countries that import a lot of frozen, fresh and dried blueberries from the U.S. So if the Trump Administration strikes the right deal, maybe at least some in the domestic blueberry industry will win out.

The News in Charts is a collection of stories from the industry complemented by charts from Agronometrics to help better tell their story.

Access the original article with this (Link)