National Confectioners Association welcomes cocoa and palm oil deals with Malaysia and Cambodia

The National Confectioners Association (NCA) has welcomed an agreement that will exempt Malaysian and Cambodian cocoa and palm oil products from tariffs that had applied to imports from the region, writes Neill Barston.

Notably, the US had placed a 19% tax rate on the two countries – impacting negatively on confectionery companies attempting to source key cocoa ingredients that are not grown commercially in the US.

This led to companies such as Hershey recently unsuccessfully lobbying the White House for exemptions for its supply chains -which presently include core producing nations of Ghana and Ivory Coast.  

However, the NCA has welcomed the latest development from the Trump administration – which according to regional reports, made the the strategic move to exempt cocoa and palm oil, in return for relaxing an export ban on rare earth minerals. This, according to market observers, had been to counter Chinese activity in the region – with the Asian powerhouse seeking to establish its own major deals with the Malaysia government.

In response to the exclusion of Malaysian and Cambodian cocoa and palm oil inputs from IEEPA import tariffs, the NCA expressed hope that similar deals could be struck with other key cocoa producing nations.

In a statement, the NCA said:  “Cocoa is the foundation of America’s chocolate industry, an industry that fuels growth, innovation, and joy across the nation. By excluding critical cocoa and chocolate inputs from Malaysia and Cambodia from IEEPA tariffs, the Trump Administration is taking steps to ensure that U.S. chocolate manufacturing remains competitive, prices remain stable, and

“American families can continue to celebrate holidays like Halloween with affordable treats. Cocoa cannot be commercially grown in the United States, making the U.S. manufacturing sector entirely reliant on imported cocoa inputs, so we are very encouraged by tariff exemptions included in these finalised trade deals. We encourage the Administration to swiftly build on this progress by concluding negotiations with other major cocoa and palm trading partners around the world.”